Diagnosis of Food Allergy by Combined Detection of Short Circuit Current Changes and Histamine Release Induced by Antigen Application during Mucosa-Oxygenation in Human Intestinal…

Diagnosis of food allergy is hampered by the poor sensitivity and specificity of RAST and skin prick tests. Double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge (DBPCFC), the golden standard, is time and cost consuming. We performed ex vivo tests with intestinal biopsies of two patients with food allergies diagnosed by DBPCFC, and with biopsies of one patient with no known food allergies. Biopsies were mounted in Ussing chambers, serosal surface area was 1.1mm2, both compartments contained 2ml oxygenated Ringer’s solution at 37o C. Short circuit current (Isc) responses to serosally applied food protein extracts (10–25…