The Hoxb8 MAT accurately captures BAT non-responders.
To investigate whether the Hoxb8 MAT could potentially overcome the diagnostic challenge of basophils that do not respond to FcεRI-dependent activation in the BAT, we tested sera from seven patients that were previously classified as not meeting the quality controls in MONAS (four positive responders in the negative control; three non-responders to the positive control) . Four out of these seven samples stemmed from clinically confirmed peanut allergic patients (i.e. NR1, NR3, NR4 and NR5). Three samples were from non-allergic individuals (i.e. NR2, NR6 and NR7). Importantly, all four samples from the PA group showed dose dependent activation in the Hoxb8 MAT, whereas no activation upon allergen challenge was observed in the three samples from the non-allergic individuals (Fig. 4 ). These results highlight that non-responder basophil samples have been accurately classified based on the Hoxb8 MAT outcome.