Determining the role of basophil activation testing in reported type 1 allergy to beta-lactam antibiotics

BackgroundAllergy to beta-lactam antibiotics (BLA), especially to penicillin, is the most commonly reported drug allergy by patients. Alternative antibiotics can yield negative consequences, such as extended hospitalization days due to less efficacy and overall higher costs. The basophil activation...

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Main Authors: Markus Reitmajer, Antonia Strauss, Christian Klinger, Maximiliane Maaß, Wolfgang E. Kempf, Joerg Fischer, Manfred Kneilling, Sebastian Volc
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-12-01
Series:Frontiers in Allergy
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/falgy.2024.1512875/full
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author Markus Reitmajer
Antonia Strauss
Christian Klinger
Maximiliane Maaß
Wolfgang E. Kempf
Wolfgang E. Kempf
Joerg Fischer
Joerg Fischer
Manfred Kneilling
Manfred Kneilling
Sebastian Volc
Sebastian Volc
author_facet Markus Reitmajer
Antonia Strauss
Christian Klinger
Maximiliane Maaß
Wolfgang E. Kempf
Wolfgang E. Kempf
Joerg Fischer
Joerg Fischer
Manfred Kneilling
Manfred Kneilling
Sebastian Volc
Sebastian Volc
author_sort Markus Reitmajer
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundAllergy to beta-lactam antibiotics (BLA), especially to penicillin, is the most commonly reported drug allergy by patients. Alternative antibiotics can yield negative consequences, such as extended hospitalization days due to less efficacy and overall higher costs. The basophil activation test (BAT) is an in vitro assay, in which activation of an individual's own basophils is quantified by flow cytometry. It is an increasingly applied in vitro method in allergy testing that is also gaining traction in drug allergies.MethodsWe correlated 37 BAT results with skin test results. The cohort exclusively included patients with suspected type I BLA allergy. In addition, we examined the concordance of these results with clinical symptoms reported in the BLA patients’ medical histories.ResultsBLA-BAT revealed a high specificity of 92.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) 66.7–98.6] but a low sensitivity of only 20.8% (95% CI 9.24–40.47) using BLA-skin tests as a comparator. Negative BLA-BAT in patients with a history of grade I anaphylaxis yielded doubt on the assumption of grading. The exclusion of grade I BLA anaphylaxis increased the sensitivity to 29.4% (95% CI 13.28–53.13) with a still high specificity of 85.7% (95% CI 48.69–97.43). When ImmunoCAP was available, we compared specific IgE and BAT results by using Cohens' kappa (κ) and revealed a moderate level of agreement (κ = 0.538, p = 0.029).ConclusionBAT reveals specific positive results exclusively in patients with cephalosporin anaphylaxis. However, these findings could not be generally confirmed in the heterogeneous group of BLA.
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spelling doaj-art-0f4ce107c13e4acaa102fcde0363a4702025-08-20T02:31:56ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Allergy2673-61012024-12-01510.3389/falgy.2024.15128751512875Determining the role of basophil activation testing in reported type 1 allergy to beta-lactam antibioticsMarkus Reitmajer0Antonia Strauss1Christian Klinger2Maximiliane Maaß3Wolfgang E. Kempf4Wolfgang E. Kempf5Joerg Fischer6Joerg Fischer7Manfred Kneilling8Manfred Kneilling9Sebastian Volc10Sebastian Volc11Department of Dermatology, Eberhard Karls University, Tuebingen, GermanyDepartment of Dermatology, Eberhard Karls University, Tuebingen, GermanyDepartment of Dermatology, Eberhard Karls University, Tuebingen, GermanyDepartment of Dermatology, Eberhard Karls University, Tuebingen, GermanyDepartment of Dermatology, Eberhard Karls University, Tuebingen, GermanyFACS Core Facility Location Tal, Department of Dermatology, Eberhard Karls University, Tuebingen, GermanyDepartment of Dermatology, Eberhard Karls University, Tuebingen, GermanyDepartment of Dermatology and Allergology, University Augsburg, Augsburg, GermanyDepartment of Dermatology, Eberhard Karls University, Tuebingen, GermanyDepartment of Preclinical Imaging and Radiopharmacy, Werner Siemens Imaging Center, Eberhard Karls University, Tuebingen, GermanyDepartment of Dermatology, Eberhard Karls University, Tuebingen, GermanyFACS Core Facility Location Tal, Department of Dermatology, Eberhard Karls University, Tuebingen, GermanyBackgroundAllergy to beta-lactam antibiotics (BLA), especially to penicillin, is the most commonly reported drug allergy by patients. Alternative antibiotics can yield negative consequences, such as extended hospitalization days due to less efficacy and overall higher costs. The basophil activation test (BAT) is an in vitro assay, in which activation of an individual's own basophils is quantified by flow cytometry. It is an increasingly applied in vitro method in allergy testing that is also gaining traction in drug allergies.MethodsWe correlated 37 BAT results with skin test results. The cohort exclusively included patients with suspected type I BLA allergy. In addition, we examined the concordance of these results with clinical symptoms reported in the BLA patients’ medical histories.ResultsBLA-BAT revealed a high specificity of 92.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) 66.7–98.6] but a low sensitivity of only 20.8% (95% CI 9.24–40.47) using BLA-skin tests as a comparator. Negative BLA-BAT in patients with a history of grade I anaphylaxis yielded doubt on the assumption of grading. The exclusion of grade I BLA anaphylaxis increased the sensitivity to 29.4% (95% CI 13.28–53.13) with a still high specificity of 85.7% (95% CI 48.69–97.43). When ImmunoCAP was available, we compared specific IgE and BAT results by using Cohens' kappa (κ) and revealed a moderate level of agreement (κ = 0.538, p = 0.029).ConclusionBAT reveals specific positive results exclusively in patients with cephalosporin anaphylaxis. However, these findings could not be generally confirmed in the heterogeneous group of BLA.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/falgy.2024.1512875/fullbeta-lactam-antibioticbasophil activation testtype 1 allergyhypersensitivitydelabeling
spellingShingle Markus Reitmajer
Antonia Strauss
Christian Klinger
Maximiliane Maaß
Wolfgang E. Kempf
Wolfgang E. Kempf
Joerg Fischer
Joerg Fischer
Manfred Kneilling
Manfred Kneilling
Sebastian Volc
Sebastian Volc
Determining the role of basophil activation testing in reported type 1 allergy to beta-lactam antibiotics
Frontiers in Allergy
beta-lactam-antibiotic
basophil activation test
type 1 allergy
hypersensitivity
delabeling
title Determining the role of basophil activation testing in reported type 1 allergy to beta-lactam antibiotics
title_full Determining the role of basophil activation testing in reported type 1 allergy to beta-lactam antibiotics
title_fullStr Determining the role of basophil activation testing in reported type 1 allergy to beta-lactam antibiotics
title_full_unstemmed Determining the role of basophil activation testing in reported type 1 allergy to beta-lactam antibiotics
title_short Determining the role of basophil activation testing in reported type 1 allergy to beta-lactam antibiotics
title_sort determining the role of basophil activation testing in reported type 1 allergy to beta lactam antibiotics
topic beta-lactam-antibiotic
basophil activation test
type 1 allergy
hypersensitivity
delabeling
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/falgy.2024.1512875/full
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