Total IgE

Clinical significance
Class E immunoglobulins are involved in the early stages of allergic reactions; produced mainly in the mucous membranes of the airways and gut, IgE bind by one end (Fab) to the antigens they are specifically directed against and by the other end (Fc) to basophils or their tissue counterparts, mast cells, which in turn release the substances (including histamine) responsible for the symptoms.
Total IgE may be raised in allergies, but also in intestinal parasitic infections; IgE-secreting myelomas are rare. IgE does not cross the placenta.