In vivo and in vitro techniques to determine the biological activity of food allergens

Methods for determination of the biological activity of food allergens comp rise both determination of the allergenic potency, i.e. the capability to e licit an allergic reaction in an already sensitized individual, and the all ergenic potential, i.e. the risk for sensitizing a hitherto non-allergic in dividual. Several methods are discussed for determination of potency includ ing the double-blinded placebo-controlled food challenge, skin testing, in vitro effector cell assays such as basophil histamine release, and IgE-base d techniques such as RAST and RAST inhibition. No reliable methods have yet been developed which can predict the allergenic potential of a food or a F ood allergen. The progress in the areas of stability studies and animal mod els for food allergy are discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All righ ts reserved.