– Mixed Topics 09 : 50 – 10 : 45 O 1 Flow Cytometric BAT In Practice : New Gating Strategy To Combine Mandatory Basophil Activation Markers And Light Scattering Properties

Introduction The prevalence of food allergies has increased worldwide within the past decades. Commonly used in vitro routine diagnostic tests basically document sensitization, but it is known that they are not a safe proof of clinical relevance. Therefore, the oral food challenge is still considered as diagnostic gold standard despite being costly and potentially dangerous. As blood-circulating human basophils are critical in IgE-mediated allergic reactions their use in diagnostic measurements such as the basophil activation test (BAT) might improve risk assessment and management of allergic individuals. A major drawback, however, is that they represent less than 1% of total leukocytes within peripheral blood and thus are difficult to identify.