Informative value of basophil activation test in the diagnosis of pediatric gastrointestinal disorders

Food allergies are one of the most common variants of allergic diseases in children. Nowadays it is necessary to apply the most sensitive, specific and standardized methods for the detection of allergensin theoretical allergology and clinical practice.For this purpose, the detection of specific immunoglobulins of class E (sIgE) in blood serum is most often used, however the basophil activation test (BAT) deserves close attention due to its functional methodology based on its maximum proximity to the pathogenetic mechanisms of immune reactions.In order to compare the results of detecting sensitization to food allergens in BAT and the method of detecting specific IgE 76 patients aged 1-16 years receiving outpatient treatment with a pediatrician or an allergist-immunologist for gastrointestinal pathology were examined. During the analysis two subgroups were identified: patients with a burdened allergic anamnesis (36 people) and patients without clear anamnestic data on the presence of food allergies (40 people). The activation of basophils to allergens to cow’s milk, egg, wheat and soybeans proteins was evaluated by flow cytometry using the Allergenicitykit test system (‘BeckmanCoulter’), specific IgE was evaluated by using the AllergoIFE-specific IgE kit (‘Alkor Bio’).The results showed that the most common significant allergen of food allergy in the general group was cow’s milk proteins, at the same time the number of positive BAT results exceeded the number of cases of allergy detection by the method of determining specific IgE. Specific IgE (f2) was detected in 7 people, sIgE (f77) was detected in 3 patients, and sIgE (f78) – in 5 children in the subgroup of patients with suspected allergy to cow’s milk proteins. Using BAT obtained a positive result in 26, 21 and 13 cases, respectively. In a subgroup of children with gastrointestinal pathology without clear anamnestic data on food sensitization specific IgE(f2) was positive in 1 patient, sIgE (f77) – in 1 person, sIgE (f78) was detected in 4 children. BAT-positive result was obtained in 25, 24, 11 cases, respectively.The results demonstrate the advantage of BAT in comparison with sIgE detection. The inclusion of BAT in the examination plan for children with incomplete effectiveness of standard treatment of gastrointestinal diseases will increase the detection of allergopathologies.