Recent applications of basophil activation tests in the diagnosis of drug hypersensitivity

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	Asia Pac Allergy. 2013 Oct;3(4):266-280. English. Published online 2013 October 31.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5415/apallergy.2013.3.4.266  Copyright © 2013. Asia Pacific Association of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology. Woo-Jung Song,1,2 and Yoon-Seok Chang1,2,3 1Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 100-799, Korea. 2Institute of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul 100-799, Korea. 3Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam 463-707, Korea.  Correspondence: Yoon-Seok Chang. Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 82 Gumi-ro 173beon-gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam 463-707, Korea. Tel: +82-31-787-7023, Fax: +82-31-787-4052, Email: addchang@snu.ac.kr  Received September 22, 2013; Accepted October 03, 2013. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Immediate-type drug hypersensitivity is an increasingly significant clinical issue; however, the diagnosis is frequently hindered due to lack of safe and precise diagnostic tests. Flow cytometry-assisted basophil activation test is a safe in vitro diagnostic tool for assessing basophil activation upon allergen stimulation. In this review, we have summarized current literature on the diagnostic utilities, new indications, and methodological aspects of the basophil activation test for the diagnosis of drug hypersensitivity. Keywords: Drug hypersensitivity, Immunologic tests, Basophils, CD63, CD203c, Basophil activation test. Formats: Abstract Article PubReader PDF Figures + Tables References