Ask your allergy cells!

Your basophils, inflammatory cells in the blood, are not recorded in other allergy tests. However, they are particularly important as they are the ones that release mediators and trigger an acute allergic reaction. The basophil activation test, BAT for short, is used to detect and assess the risk of an IgE-mediated allergy, as well as a psdeudoallergy, e.g. to medication and food additives. Your risk of an allergic reaction can then be better limited.

After taking a blood sample, we stimulate your basophil blood cells in a test tube with allergens. If the basophils react to the stimulus, we can measure this in flow cytometry using laser technology. The blood cells are sent individually in tiny capillaries in front of a laser beam. Our flow cytometer DxFLEX System B5-R0-V0; Beckman Coulter, as well as Flow CAST® Assay and CAST® Allergens from Bühlmann are certified in accordance with the "in vitro diagnostic medical devices regulation (iVDR)" and therefore meet the current criteria for standardized laboratory testing.

What can the BAT test do?

  • The BAT imitates an allergic reaction in a test tube.
  • In the BAT, 85% of the patients tested respond.
  • The test is more sensitive than the serum test for IgE and also tells us how strongly your blood cells react. The BAT can also confirm a suspected allergy.
  • When testing in a test tube, there is no risk of an allergic reaction or anaphylaxis, as with other provocation tests with allergens.
  • The BAT can diagnose local allergic rhinitis (LAR) in 50% of cases despite a negative IgE test. The positive predictive power is 95%.
  • BAT can measure possible tolerance development in food allergies or the therapeutic success of allergen immunotherapy *).
  • The test is suitable during pregnancy, for infants and small children.
  • The test is suitable for patients with e.g. cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
  • The optimum time for the BAT is between 6 weeks and six months after an allergic reaction.
  • Since there are also unknown cofactors in allergies in real life, the BAT test does not completely replace allergen provocations.
  • However, the BAT result is helpful in finding triggers and assessing your risk of further reactions.
  • The BAT result must be discussed with your attending physician.
BAT Registration