Radioallergosorbent Test

From Anvita Health Wiki

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Procedure 3 More General Terms 4 Additional Terms 5 References

Introduction

• In vitro test measuring IgE to a specific allergen. In general it is more expressive & less sensitive than skin testing.

Procedure

• allergen protein is chemically coupled to a solid-phase substance
• patient serum is incubated with the solid support
• the solid support is washed free on non-binding materials
• the washed support is incubated with radiolabelled anti- IgE antibody
• wells are counted (presumably various dilutions of patient serum) & compared against a standard curve prepared from known amounts of allergen-specific IgE In general, in vitro RAST testing is not as sensitive as skin testing. It is useful in patients:
• who have been taking antihistamines in whom no positive histamine responsiveness can be induced in the skin
• with primary skin disorders that make allergen skin testing impractical (i.e., generalized eczema)

More General Terms

• serology

Additional Terms

• allergen skin testing

References

Saunders Manual of Medical Practice, Rakel (ed), WB Saunders, Philadelphia, 1996, pg 84

radioallergosorbent [RAST] testing