Abstract

Before starting venom-specific immunotherapy (VIT), systemic sting reactions to Hymenoptera venoms require allergological workup in order to prove an IgEmediated reaction and to identify the culprit insect venom. In addition to skin tests and the determination of specific IgE antibodies, the basophil activation test (BAT) using flow cytometry has emerged as a powerful tool and sensitive marker for this purpose in recent years. BAT seems to have a better informative value in terms of clinical relevance compared to the other tests. In Hymenoptera venom allergies, BAT is particularly useful for the diagnosis of cases with unclear or contradictory history and sensitization profile. Its results are associated with adverse reactions during VIT and efficacy of VIT and therefore have a certain predictive value for side effects and treatment failure of VIT. In research, it is mainly used to characterize the allergenic components of Hymenoptera venoms. This review article focuses on these topics.

Author Details

Authors

• Bernadette Eberlein¹
• Knut Brockow¹
• Ulf Darsow¹
• Tilo Biedermann¹
• Simon Blank²

Departments

• ¹ Department of Dermatology and Allergy Biederstein, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, and
• ² Center of Allergy and Environment (ZAUM), Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine and Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany

Address

Prof. Dr. Bernadette Eberlein, Department of Dermatology and Allergy Biederstein, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, Biedersteiner Str. 29, 80802 Munich, Germany
Email: [email protected]

Citation