NOVEOS (Hycor) demonstrates better clinical performance than ImmunoCAP™
(Thermofisher) for food allergy diagnosis
Abstract
Background: The aim of this study was to compare the technical
and clinical effectiveness of two platforms (Phadia ImmunoCAP™ and Hycor
NOVEOS) for the measurement of IgE specific for 10 food allergens.
Methods: 289 patients, as part of allergy diagnosis or of their
follow-up were included and tested for IgE specific for six food
allergen extracts (egg white, cow’s milk, peanut, hazelnut, fish,
shrimp) and four molecular allergens (Gal d 1, Bos d 8, Ara h 2, Cor a
14). Specific IgE measurements were carried out using the ImmunoCAP™ and
NOVEOS methods. Food allergy diagnosis was established according to
international guidelines. Results: A very good correlation
(rho>0.9) was present between the two platforms, while
specific IgE concentrations measured with NOVEOS were consistently lower
(mean -15%) than with ImmunoCAP™. NOVEOS provided higher overall
odd-ratios and relative risks for allergen extracts than ImmunoCAP™, but
the difference was not significant. When all ten allergens were
considered, NOVEOS provided better ROC curves (p=0.03) and thus, had a
better ability to establish the true value. Finally, we found that the
most discordant results were observed with hazelnut and peanut extracts,
and were related to cross-reactive carbohydrate determinants on these
two ImmunoCAP™. Conclusions: Specific IgE determination by
either ImmunoCAP™ (odd-ratios of allergy = 25.1) or NOVEOS (odd-ratios
of allergy = 33.0) is similarly highly informative on the risk of
allergy in the selected population. The NOVEOS platform presents the
advantage of being less affected by unwanted reactivity due to IgE
specific for carbohydrate determinants, while requiring a ten-fold lower
test sample volume.