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Pros and Cons of Clinical Basophil Testing (BAT)

  • Immunologic/Diagnostic Tests in Allergy (M Chapman and A Pomés, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Allergy and Asthma Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

We review basophil testing by flow cytometry with an emphasis on advantages and disadvantages.

Recent Findings

There are many tools available to assess the presence and severity of allergic diseases in patients. For 50 years, peripheral blood basophils have been used as tools to study these diseases. It is a very accessible cell that binds IgE antibody and secretes the classical mediators responsible for the symptoms of allergic reactions. In the last decade, an even more accessible methodology, using flow cytometry, has been developed to enhance the ability to use basophils for both mechanistic and clinical diagnostics. Basophil testing has been included in diagnostics for different forms of allergies as well as to monitor disease status.

Summary

A variety of studies have begun to establish both precise methods and their clinical relevance for disease diagnosis, but there remain some important questions on how to take optimal advantage of the behaviours of basophils.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Hans Jürgen Hoffmann

  2. Department of Respiratory Diseases and Allergy, Aarhus University Hospital, Nørrebrogade 44, Aarhus, 8000, Denmark

    Hans Jürgen Hoffmann

  3. Departments of Immunology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Edward F. Knol

  4. Dermatology/Allergology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Edward F. Knol

  5. Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Martha Ferrer

  6. Research Laboratory and Allergy Service, IBIMA-Regional University Hospital of Malaga, UMA, Malaga, Spain

    Lina Mayorga

  7. Department of Immunology-Allergology-Rheumatology, University of Antwerp and Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium

    Vito Sabato

  8. Department of Paediatric Allergy, Division of Asthma, Allergy & Lung Biology, King’s College London, London, UK

    Alexandra F. Santos

  9. Children’s Allergy Service, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

    Alexandra F. Santos

  10. Department of Dermatology and Allergy Biederstein, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany

    Bernadette Eberlein

  11. Immunology and Allergy Unit, Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Anna Nopp

  12. Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, USA

    Donald MacGlashan

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  1. Hans Jürgen Hoffmann
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  2. Edward F. Knol
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  3. Martha Ferrer
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  4. Lina Mayorga
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  9. Donald MacGlashan
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Correspondence to Hans Jürgen Hoffmann.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Santos reports grants from Medical Research Council (UK), grants from NIAID/Immune Tolerance Network, other from National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Dr. MacGlashan reports grants from National Institutes of Health. Dr. Nopp report a grant from Novartis. Drs. Knol, Eberlein, Hoffmann, Ferrer, Sabato, and Mayorga declare no conflicts of interest relevant to this manuscript.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Immunologic/Diagnostic Tests in Allergy

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Hoffmann, H.J., Knol, E.F., Ferrer, M. et al. Pros and Cons of Clinical Basophil Testing (BAT). Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 16, 56 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-016-0633-6

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