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.