Evaluation of the sensitization spectrum in patients with respiratory allergies in the Moscow region using the domestic allergy chip

Background: The goal of an allergist is to identify a causally significant allergen in a timely manner, which allows for the administration of modern treatment for allergic diseases. To confirm sensitization, diagnostics are performed using skin tests with allergen extracts or the detection of specific immunoglobulin E antibodies in the blood serum. Molecular diagnostic methods are considered more sensitive and specific than diagnostic tests based on natural allergen extracts. We used a domestic microchip technology in a pilot study, as it provides an analysis of a wide range of different sensitizations in a cohort of patients with atopic diseases. The first Russian allergy chip is a platform with 100 allergens (extracts and allergenic molecules) on it.

Aim: To analyze sensitization in adult patients from the Moscow region suffering from respiratory allergies using the Russian multiplex technology of molecular allergy diagnostics.

Methods: A single-center prospective, one-time study included 83 adult subjects (18 years and older) of both sexes living in the Moscow region. The first group consisted of 12 (14.4 %) healthy volunteers without atopy, the second group included 38 (45.8 %) patients with isolated allergic rhinitis, and the third group consisted of 33 (39.8 %) patients with allergic rhinitis and concomitant bronchial asthma. All study participants had allergen-specific immunoglobulin E antibodies to 100 allergens determined in the blood serum by the multiplex technology. Statistical processing of the results was carried out using the IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0 program package.

Results: No sensitization to any allergen component was detected in the comparison group. Molecular analysis of the spectrum of immunoglobulin E sensitization to aeroallergens in the group of patients with isolated rhinitis and in the group of patients with allergic rhinitis and concomitant bronchial asthma showed a predominance of immunoglobulin E detection to the following main molecules: birch pollen allergen Bet v 1 in 43 (60.5 %) patients, alder allergen Aln g 1 in 26 (36.6 %) patients, The main cat molecule was Fel d 1 in 23 (32.4 %) of the subjects, the first timothy pollen molecule was Phl p 1 in 20 (28.2 %), and the hazelnut allergen belonging to the PR protein family was Cor a 1.04 in 32 (45.0 %) patients. When assessing the type of sensitization, it was found that the majority of patients in the second and third groups had polysensitization, with 89.5 and 93.9 % of patients, respectively. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between the increased likelihood of developing a multimorbid phenotype of allergic rhinitis with concomitant bronchial asthma and the increased class of sensitization to the main molecules Bet v 1 (p = 0.020) and Fel d (p = 0.003).

Conclusion: As a result of the pilot study, sensitization to the main components of inhalation allergens was detected in adult patients with respiratory allergies in the Moscow region, which correlates with previous studies conducted on a similar patient population using other chip technologies.