Allergies

Allergy is an immune reaction of the body that appears when exposed to an external substance, generally innocuous. The most frequent allergens are proteins from foods, mites, animals, pollens and molds.

The allergen can come into contact with the body, whether inhaled, ingested, injected or by contact with the skin, causing the immune system to produce antibodies against these protein. When the body comes into contact with the allergen again, the antibodies release chemicals that can cause allergy symptoms, such as histamines.

The most common symptoms of allergies are nasal congestion, sneezing, watery eyes, dry cough, asthma, skin or digestive system disorders, depending on the substance in question. The severity of the reaction can range from mild to very severe, and can cause an immune reaction that can be fatal, anaphylaxis.

The treatment of allergies ranges from medications to alleviate symptoms to immunotherapy with allergens. In the event of a severe allergic reaction, epinephrine may be administered. As prevention, it is only possible to avoid exposure to allergenic substances.

The diagnosis of allergies is of vital importance in order to prevent exposure to them, and to be able to choose an appropriate immunotherapy treatment. To identify the allergen causing the allergic reaction, skin tests or direct exposure to cause an allergic reaction, or blood tests may be done. The blood test determines either the amount of antibodies in the individual against the different allergens, the so-called immunoglobulin E (IgE), or the specific allergen.

At Rekom Biotech, we design and manufacture recombinant allergens so they can be used in antibody tests against different allergens. If you want more information on why choose recombinant proteins for allergy diagnosis, please, visit our blog.

Below, you can find the list of allergies for which we offer IVD reagents. If you want to know more about a specific allergy, and/or consult the IVD reagents that we offer for it, do not hesitate to take a look.