ISAC-test

**The ISAC test** is a new direction in the diagnosis of allergic reactions: determination of allergens at the molecular level – component allergodiagnostics. This technique is based on the detection of sensitization to allergens at the molecular level using natural highly purified and recombinant allergen molecules, that is, their components, not extracts.

In the late 1980s, when DNA technology began to be introduced, it was possible to characterize and clone allergen molecules, which helped to identify antigenic determinants in various allergic diseases. This, in turn, played a crucial role in the emergence of molecular diagnostics that led to the development of more effective allergy treatments.

Determination of antibodies to recombinant allergens allows the identification of the leading component in the composition of complex allergens at the molecular level. This allows you to differentiate between true and cross-allergy. This technique is a new tool in the diagnosis of type I allergic reactions, which allows you to obtain detailed information about the sensitization of the patient, cross-reactivity with other allergens, and to justify the feasibility and predict the effectiveness of allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT).

Based on state-of-the-art biochip technology, the **“ISAC-test”** is a miniaturized immunoassay platform designed for the comprehensive measurement of specific IgE antibodies to more than a hundred recombinant allergens simultaneously. This direction will change the views on the examination and treatment of patients with allergies in Kazakhstan and bring them in line with the requirements of international standards.

There are 3 main advantages of doing this analysis:
1. Molecular allergodiagnostics, which makes it possible to differentiate true sensitization from sensitization due to cross-reactivity. These data will help identify the sources of allergies: a single one, several closely related ones, or many different ones.
2. Molecular allergodiagnostics will eliminate the need for provocative tests and allow you to give clearer recommendations regarding the elimination of contact with allergens.
3. Molecular allergodiagnostics is necessary in the selection of allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT), in persons with polyvalent sensitization, as the most accurate way to determine the most important allergen for which ASIT will be performed. It is shown that the use of molecular diagnostic methods makes it necessary to change the ASIT, selected according to the results of skin prick tests.

Allergen molecules are given a name, at the beginning the first three letters of the Latin genus name, then the first letter of the species, and an Arabic numeral, the allergen number (the number depends on the order of isolation and/or clinical importance).