Malvern, Pennsylvania, USA—The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) has announced that a new and updated version of the I/LA37 Database, Supplemental Data for Allergen Specificity for IgE Antibody Autoanalyzers, is now available. The updated database provides essential allergen information for allergy testing manufacturers and hospitals performing allergy testing, both laboratories and clinicians. It includes a harmonized listing of the allergen codes currently used by immunoglobulin E antibody assay manufacturers, along with their common name, Latin name, and allergen grouping.

Created by a committee of experts in allergy testing, the updated database includes new features like Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) and Nomenclature, Properties, and Units (NPU) Codes. Debra Hovanec-Burns, PhD, Senior Director, Assay Product Development, Laboratory Diagnostics, Siemens Healthineers, and contributing author to the CLSI I/LA20 document noted, “I/LA37 is a big step toward harmonization of allergen codes and source information by providing a comprehensive searchable database.”

The I/LA37 Database is intended for use with CLSI document I/LA20—Analytical Performance Characteristics, Quality Assurance, and Clinical Utility of Immunological Assays for Human Immunoglobulin E Antibodies of Defined Allergen Specificities, 3rd Edition. I/LA20 contains the guidance needed for the design, analytical performance, standardization, quality assurance, and clinical application of laboratory assays used in the measurement of human immunoglobulin E antibodies of defined allergen specificity. 

For more information about the I/LA37 database or the I/LA20 document, contact Joanne Christopher at jchristopher@clsi.org or +1.484.588.5907.  

CLSI sets the standard for quality in medical laboratory testing. A not-for-profit membership organization, CLSI brings together the global laboratory community for the advancement of a common cause: to foster excellence in laboratory medicine.   
  
For over 50 years, our members, volunteers, and customers have made CLSI a respected, transformative leader in the development and implementation of medical laboratory testing standards. Through our unified efforts, we will continue to set and uphold the standards that drive quality test results, enhance patient care delivery, and improve health care around the world.   

By using CLSI standards, laboratorians can improve process quality, speed the development of standard operating procedures, and implement safer practices with greater ease and efficiency.