ORIGINAL ARTICLE Analysis of MAST-CLA Results as a Diagnostic Tool in Allergic Skin Diseases

Background: Urticaria and atopic dermatitis are represen-tative allergic skin diseases that can be mediated by IgE. Measuring levels of specific IgE can be used to confirm cau-sative agents of these skin diseases. Objective: To analyze re-sults from the multiple allergosorbent test chemilumines-cent assay (MAST-CLA), which measures specific IgE in the presence of a causative agent/allergen, in IgE-mediated skin diseases. Methods: A total of 404 patients with urticaria, atopic dermatitis or pruritus were enrolled in the present study. Positive rates of specific IgE as well as total serum IgE from the MAST-CLA were compared. Results: Positive rates of specific IgE were highest in atopic dermatitis patients, followed by urticaria, and then pruritus, with 57.0%, 37.1%, and 20.8%, respectively (p＜0.05). House dust mite species were the most common allergens in both atopic dermatitis and urticaria skin diseases. There were no differences in the overall MAST-CLA results between acute and chronic urticaria. The relative positive rate of inhalant allergen was significantly higher in adult than in child atopic dermatitis patients. Conclusion: Results from the MAST-CLA showed diversity among the three disease groups, and within each disease group, with different positive rates of specific IgE, a different mean allergen number per patient, and so on. Therefore, we concluded that MAST-CLA could be a useful diagnostic tool for various allergic skin diseases. (An