TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Better Tests for Food Allergies

Rebecca Kutzer-Rice | Date: 06-04-10 | Comments

Due to inconsistent diagnostic methods, many Americans falsely believe that they have food allergies. MIT researchers have developed a new technology to test more accurately for allergies.

I have a friend who claims to be allergic to eggs, but often eats egg-containing baked goods, like cakes and French toast. Another is allergic to milk, but sometimes splurges on ice cream. Allergies seem to be subjective and situational, varying day-to-day and person-to-person. A recent review funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) confirms these suspicions and concludes that, while 30 percent of Americans believe they have a food allergy, only about 5 percent really do.

The most common food allergies are to milk, nuts, eggs and shellfish.

Part of the problem, the report notes, is that �food allergy has no universally accepted definition.� Even among scientific journals, the meaning of �allergy� can vary greatly. Additionally, current diagnostic methods, such as skin and blood tests, are ineffective and often lead to false-positive results.

For those afflicted by them, food allergies can be highly restrictive. They can cause rashes, swelling and�in especially bad cases�life-threatening anaphylactic shock. These consequences make proper diagnostic techniques especially imperative.

MIT Chemical Engineer Christopher Love has developed a new technology that promises more accurate and consistent allergy detection results. While traditional tests detect antibodies, Love�s new method screens immune cells for small proteins called cytokines, which are produced when an allergic response is initiated. In the test, researchers isolate white blood cells from a patient�s blood sample. These cells are introduced to an allergen and placed into tiny rubber wells. Researchers are then able to precisely measure the amount of cytokines made by each cell.

Unlike antibody detection, this new test is a much more reliable way to diagnose food allergies. Amal Assa�ad, professor of Pediatric Immunology and Allergy at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, sees the technology as �a great advance,� but notes that more research will have to be done before the method can become mainstream. She says, �Any test will have to be tested on multiple patients to see that it truly correlates with clinical allergy.�

Has an allergy diagnosis restricted your eating habits? Would you consider being retested with the new cytokine detection? Share your thoughts in our comments section.