Evaluation of the Agreement between Immunodot Assays and Intradermal Skin Testing or Favrot Diagnostic Criteria in Canine Atopic Dermatitis

This study was undertaken to identify differences between atopic and non-atopic dogs in three rapid screening immunodot assays as well as the ability of the assays to predict the results of intradermal skin testing (IDST) or Favrot diagnostic criteria (FDC). Twenty-nine dogs diagnosed with canine atopic dermatitis (CAD) were selected as the atopic group. Twenty-five dogs without CAD were included as the non-atopic group. Three types of immunodot assays were conducted on all serum samples from both groups: Allercept E-screen 2nd generation (ES2G), Canine Allergic Tendency Reference Test (ALERT), and Asan Easy Test Canine IgE (AETC). IDST, which included 39 allergens, and immunodot assays were performed concurrently in 13 dogs from the atopic group and compared. While there were no significant differences in positivity between the two groups in the evaluation of ALERT (P = 0.435) and AETC (P = 0.313), positivity in ES2G testing was significantly higher in the non-atopic group than the atopic group (P = 0.038). The ES2G, ALERT, and AETC results showed fair (${\kappa}=0.235$), slight (${\kappa}=0.133$), and slight (${\kappa}=0.014$) accordance with IDST, respectively. The outcomes of ES2G, ALERT, and AETC indicated poor (${\kappa}=-0.211$), slight (${\kappa}=0.106$), and slight (${\kappa}=0.087$) agreement with FDC. In conclusion, rapid screening immunodot assays were not useful for the diagnosis of CAD. These assays may provide a supplementary method for predicting the results of IDST in atopic dogs.