FLOW CYTOMETRIC MEASUREMENT OF IMMUNOGLOBULIN-E TO NATURAL LATEX PROTEINS

Immediate hypersensitivity to natural Latex (NL) occurs in sensitized individuals after repeated exposure to products or devices containing NL components. Since allergic reactions to NL proteins are quite frequ ent acid may be quite serious, diagnostic assays are needed to identif y individuals at risk. A number of latex proteins have been considered the major antigens, but they have been incompletely characterized. Th ere is no standard material available for skin testing, In vitro diagn ostic tests, such as the radioallergosorbent test (RAST), are lime con suming and their sensitivity and specificity remain to be proven. We h ave developed a rapid, microsphere-based, fluorescence-activated flow cytometry assay for the measurement of NL protein-specific human immun oglobulin E and have compared it with both the enzyme-linked immunosor bent assay and radioallergosorbent test methods. By using the total pu rified NL protein fraction isolated from raw ammoniated NL sap as the antigen, the how cytometry assay was both sensitive and specific for t he detection of NL protein-specific human immunoglobulin E in the sera of sensitized pediatric patients.