Field Performance of a New Technology with the Potential to Identify Allergy and Asthma Triggers
RATIONALE: The Compact Ionic Capture Device (cICD) is a consumer friendly device that collects aerosol particles for testing. The aim is to evaluate its performance for a range of analytes and field conditions.
METHODS: Sites were a clean bathroom, a basement with sump drain,
and a hay storage room in an equestrian facility. The ICD was run for up to 24 hours at approximately 100 lpm. Reference was 0.4 µm polycarbonate
filters pumped at 15 lpm. Analytical procedures were MARIA™ 9-plex immunoassays for allergens (Indoor Biotechnologies), multiplex qPCR for 23 indoor molds (EMLabsP&K), and next generation (Illumina) sequencing with Procrustes analysis for V region of bacterial 16S rRNA.
RESULTS: Despite the presence of a unique spectrum of analytes in each environment, there was concordance between cICD and filter for presence or absence of 7 allergens and 21 mold species across all environments. In several instances, significant levels of allergens or spore equivalents were found by the cICD and not by filters. The cICD and filters both showed concordant bacterial community compositions dominated by Actinobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. The cICD’s high flow rate permitted faster detection of analytes than the filter.
CONCLUSIONS: There was remarkable consistency between the performance of the cICD and filters over a wide range of environmental types and airborne analytes. Therefore, the cICD may be used to measure and discover new aeroallergens. In clinical practice, it may easily and reliably confirm suspected allergen exposure, direct avoidance recommendations and assist individualization of therapy for allergic patients.
METHODS: Sites were a clean bathroom, a basement with sump drain,
and a hay storage room in an equestrian facility. The ICD was run for up to 24 hours at approximately 100 lpm. Reference was 0.4 µm polycarbonate
filters pumped at 15 lpm. Analytical procedures were MARIA™ 9-plex immunoassays for allergens (Indoor Biotechnologies), multiplex qPCR for 23 indoor molds (EMLabsP&K), and next generation (Illumina) sequencing with Procrustes analysis for V region of bacterial 16S rRNA.
RESULTS: Despite the presence of a unique spectrum of analytes in each environment, there was concordance between cICD and filter for presence or absence of 7 allergens and 21 mold species across all environments. In several instances, significant levels of allergens or spore equivalents were found by the cICD and not by filters. The cICD and filters both showed concordant bacterial community compositions dominated by Actinobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. The cICD’s high flow rate permitted faster detection of analytes than the filter.
CONCLUSIONS: There was remarkable consistency between the performance of the cICD and filters over a wide range of environmental types and airborne analytes. Therefore, the cICD may be used to measure and discover new aeroallergens. In clinical practice, it may easily and reliably confirm suspected allergen exposure, direct avoidance recommendations and assist individualization of therapy for allergic patients.
