ISAC Test – 112 allergy tests in one tiny blood sample!

Many people in the UK suffer from symptoms related to food allergy or intolerance. Some of the most common questions that our patients ask us after they’ve had a severe reaction and suspect that food was the cause are:

• Was it an allergic reaction to food?
• Which particular food was it?
• Is it going to happen again?
• What food do I need to avoid?

An allergy is not the same as an intolerance and it is important to seek advice from a healthcare professional to determine exactly what your symptoms are caused by. Intolerance can be diagnosed by the exclusion of foods one by one, with further reintroduction in a blinded manner, confirming the absence or return of the symptoms.

The finger prick test is not suitable for children under 6. (This needs to be done by a healthcare professional). Once you have completed the questionnaire, the results are screened by our Allergy Consultant. If an ImmunoCAP® ISAC allergy test is recommended, you will receive an email with further details.

How it works

The ImmunoCAP® ISAC test provides a large amount of allergen specific IgE antibody information – the big picture – in a single step. This enables patient investigations that require less time and resources. As a result, effective and optimized management can be started earlier, which in turn leads to improved patient health and quality of life.

The ISAC test is a blood test that uses microchip technology to detect specific IgE antibodies to food and airborne allergens (this test uses method called ELISA with a special reader; it replaced the test previously called RAST). It allows simultaneous measurement of specific antibodies to multiple allergen components in a single test, using only a few µl of serum or plasma. The allergens are pre-selected and include the most relevant specie specific and cross-reactive markers.

A combination of innovative biochip technology with cutting edge research in molecular allergology has resulted in ImmunoCAP® ISAC – the most advanced in vitro diagnostic test for simultaneous measurement of specific IgE antibodies to a broad spectrum of allergen components.

List of allergens tested in one test from a single blood sample from a finger prick.
View the full list here