Seafood Allergy Test Based on Immobilized Allergens in a Microfluidic Chip

The present study aims to develop a method for detecting seafood-specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE) antibodies in human serum. Allergens were fixed on microfluidic channels for the capture of sIgE. Then, sIgE was eluted and characterized via matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The present protocol shows an excellent performance for the analysis of sIgE in serum. The results show a 9.1% decrease in the number of identified sIgE peptides, and the loss rate of the magnetic bead (MB) -bound protein was calculated to be 16.29% in four consecutive detections. The limit of detection (LOD) is in the femtomolar range and provides sufficient sensitivity for practical sIgE detection in serum. The application of the developed sensor for in vitro allergy test was demonstrated by analyzing sera of four parvalbumin-allergic patients and five nonallergic controls. The present approach potentially provides a novel strategy to advance research in IgE-mediated food allergy diagnosis.