Improving in-vitro tests for the diagnosis of food hypersensitivity

Food hypersensitivity reactions affect up to 8% of children under 3 years of age and approximately 2.5% of the general United States population. Food allergic disorders may be subdivided into either IgE-mediated or cell-mediated reactions. The diagnostic 'gold standard' of 'symptomatic' food allergies remains the blinded oral food challenge because of the poor specificity of patient histories, skin testing and standard radioallergosorbent tests, and the outcomes of elimination diets. Little progress has been made in the development of in-vitro tests for the diagnosis of cell-mediated food hypersensitivities. However, new developments in in-vitro technologies have improved the capabilities of these tests to diagnose IgE-mediated reactivity and perhaps predict the development of future 'tolerance', i.e. 'outgrowing' the allergy. (C) 2002 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.