“Blood Test Predicts Food Allergy and Severity“ - Dr. Xiu-Min Li

The outlook for effective food allergy testing is growing brighter. New York researchers have discovered that a form of blood test called the Basophil Activation Test (or BAT) has the potential to predict how severe an individual’s reactions to a specific food allergen would be. In their study, Mount Sinai researchers took blood samples from 67 patients between the ages of 12 and 45. The samples were then subjected to the BAT process, which tallies the number of basophils, a type of immune cell, that respond when blood is exposed to a food allergen. The participants also underwent oral challenges (in which the person eats a food to test for symptoms). They were given either small amounts of common allergens to consume – peanut, tree nut, fish, shellfish, or sesame – or a placebo. Significantly, the study revealed that basophil activation results bore a close correlation with the severity of reactions in the oral food challenges. If further study backs these findings, this approach would signal a major evolution in the ability to diagnose allergy severity. Study author Dr. Xiu-Min Li, a researcher in both The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute and the Jaffe Food Allergy at Mount Sinai, where the research was conducted, also noted that BAT could be useful in allergy screening in general. “It seems at least for the most persistent food allergies, this is an additional tool to help for the diagnosis process,” she told Allergic Living. Learn more