Cytokine Detection Illuminates Allergic Responses

A technique that detects and quantifies the release of multiple cytokines from immune cells, with 100 times more sensitivity than previously achieved, could enhance the ability to assess allergic responses (Lab Chip 2010, 10, 1391). Patients typically are tested for food allergies by monitoring for itching or redness at spots where potential allergens have been poked into the skin with a needle, or by analyzing blood for antibodies to specific allergens. J. Christopher Love of MIT and coworkers have now developed an alternative technique that is less invasive than skin tests and more multidimensional than antibody detection. The technique uses “microengraving,” a process that captures analytes and transfers them to glass plates, to detect and quantify multiple cytokines simultaneously. The cytokines, which can indicate allergic reactions, are produced by individual immune cells in microwells as a result of cell exposure to allergens. The technique could make it easier to track changes in allergic reactions over time, which is not currently routine. Love is testing this strategy in a collaborative study to monitor the treatment of children with milk allergies.