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Serological testing for allergy in dogs, cats and horses has made huge progress in the last ten years following the production of monoclonal antibodies against IgE in dogs and later cats. The diagnostic sensitivity of the best serum tests for atopy is now considered to be at least comparable with intradermal skin tests and these avoid the need for sedation, extensive shaving and prolonged drug withdrawal before testing. We offer an environmental screening test which provides an initial yes/no answer to whether serum IgE is increased against common environmental allergens coupled with flea and malassezia. This test can be run alone or with a similar food screen which evaluates serum IgE and IgG levels against common potential food allergens. Dependant upon the screen results any component (perennial allergens, seasonal allergens and/or foods) which give positive results can be opened to full panels providing information with regard to which individual allergens may be relevant.

Because of the test methodology employed you can be certain that negative screens do not overlook positive or borderline allergen results and so effort and cost can be focussed on relevant tests in the full panel. Positive allergen results do not equal allergy and must be viewed in the context of the history, clinical findings and rule out of other causes of pruritus. For this reason we recommend these tests are undertaken after comprehensive flea control, skin scrapings and potentially serology for Sarcoptes scabiei and other ectoparasites and trial therapy for Malassezia. Where pyoderma is identified this can be primary or secondary to hypersensitivity or other dermatopathies. Persistence of pruritus following resolution of pyoderma or relapsing pyoderma can both be clues to underlying allergic skin disease. Where a previous extensive skin work-up has been undertaken and allergic skin disease is strongly suspected it can be appropriate to request full environmental and/or food panels directly without prior screening.

Serological testing for food hypersensitivity is used extensively in man and is recognised to be a valuable aid in identifying potential food allergens. In veterinary medicine a number of the clinical studies with early assay systems failed to demonstrate significant correlation with the results of dietary trials. However, this has not been our experience using a dual IgE and IgG testing system over recent years and interestingly the most recent clinical abstracts are starting to support the diagnostic utility of serological testing in identifying foods to be excluded in a dietary trial.

For horses serology can be useful in the identification of atopy, dietary hypersensitivity and in insect hypersensitivity. We offer panels for all of these either alone or in combination, dependant upon the clinical findings.

Download our allergy brochure here.

Allergy brochure

Flow cytometry is the measurement of characteristics of single cells suspended in a flowing saline stream. Many scientific procedures involve obtaining measurements as an average values for the whole population, however key to flow cytometry is the ability to take measurements separately on each particle within the suspension in turn. Several parameters in turn can be measured on tens of thousands of individual cells within a few minutes and this is the power of flow cytometry. The properties measured include a particle’s relative size, granularity, and fluorescence intensity and it may now be used to detect the presence of specific surface and intracellular markers. http://ctdslab.co.uk/services/fluid-flow-cytometry/ Download our Fluid flow cytometry brochure here  

Fluid flow cytometry