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. 2024 Dec;59(12):3355-3363.
doi: 10.1002/ppul.27206. Epub 2024 Aug 7.

Basophil FceRI expression-A management tool in anti-IgE treatment of allergic asthma

Sune Leisgaard Mørck Rubak  1 , Nadja Lindberg Bonne  2 , Britta Eilertsen Hjerrild  1 , Hans Jürgen Hoffmann  3
Affiliations

Basophil FceRI expression-A management tool in anti-IgE treatment of allergic asthma

Sune Leisgaard Mørck Rubak et al. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Immune-based therapy targeting immunoglobulin E (IgE), anti-IgE treatment, has emerged as an adjunct treatment for children with severe allergic asthma. After start of anti-IgE treatment, an effect of the treatment cannot be monitored by Total-IgE, because current methods measure both bound and free IgE molecules. Basophil activation test may be very useful for monitoring anti-IgE treatment efficacy. The objective of this paper is to evaluate if basophil activation test is applicable in regulating the anti-IgE treatment.

Methods: A case series of 20 children with IgE-mediated severe allergic asthma were treated according to guidelines with anti-IgE (Omalizumab). Blood samples were drawn for total IgE, specific IgE, number of IgE receptors (FcεRI) and basophil sensitivity were measured at baseline before anti-IgE treatment and 4 months after initiation of anti-IgE treatment.

Results: A total of 19 out of 20 children had statistically significant and clinically relevant effects of anti-IgE treatment on symptom score, lung function and medication. All 20 children had a significant reduction in basophil allergen sensitivity and the number of IgE receptors (FcεRI) on blood basophils. Anti-IgE treatment was found to be well controlled by measuring basophil allergen sensitivity and FceRI density on blood basophils.

Conclusion: This cohort study demonstrates a promising method, measuring basophil allergen sensitivity and in particular blood basophil FceRI density, concerning the monitoring of anti-IgE treatment in different clinical situations. There are no randomized controlled trials evaluating this method in clinical settings.

Keywords: anti IgE treatment; asthma control; basophil FceRI expression; basophile activation test; children; severe allergic asthma.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A–F) Treatment effects on clinical outcome, basophil sensitivity, and FcεRI receptors and their diagnostic ability at baseline and after 16 weeks.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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