Autoimmunity

Autoimmunity is an immune response of an human organism against its own cells and tissues. This aberrant immune response results in many different disease. These diseases are called autoimmune disease.

Examples include Celiac disease, diabetes mellitus type 1, Sarcoidosis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Sjögren's syndrome, Churg-Strauss Syndrome, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, Addison's Disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Polymyositis (PM), and Dermatomyositis (DM).

Diagnosis of autoimmune disorders largely rests on accurate history and physical examination of the patient. In several systemic disorders, serological assays which can detect specific autoantibodies are employed: Autoantibodies are used to diagnose many autoimmune diseases and their levels are measured to determine the progress of the disease.

The actual growth in testing volumes – as appearance of autoimmune disorders is increasing steadily - will prompt clinical laboratories to employ advanced autoimmune disease diagnostic tests. Several autoimmune disease diagnostic tests however are designed for manual operation and the shortage of skilled technicians limits their use. This creates immense demand for automated diagnostic platforms that facilitate rapid and efficient testing.

The constant increase in new diagnostics parameters for autoimmune diseases, the evolution of clinical laboratory demands have led to the development of a complete new range of Auto-Immunity diagnostics kits.

DiaSource brings to market a totally new approach of auto-immune testing based on the latest state-of-the-art membrane technology (DOT). This DOT-technology combines simplicity and extraordinary clinical reliability with the possible identification of several autoantibodies in one single test. Together with a dedicated automated instrument, DIAsource Neptune, the diagnosis of auto-immune can be simplified and fully automated.

Characteristics of DIASPOT Technology

• Immunodot technique (based on ELISA technology)
• Support of reaction: nitrocellulose strip
• Number of patients tested per kit: 24
• Number of auto-antibodies detected: up to 12
• Ready to use & color coded reagents and controls
• Results: Qualitative or semi-quantitative (Neptune Quantification Software)

DIASPOT Neptune Technology

The DIASpot Neptune kits correspond to the current DIASpot kits, adapted for automation: the strips are mounted on a special plastic support and the reagents are provided in ready-to-use individual cartridges, to fit the NEPTUNE automated instrument.

DIASPOT Multiquant Technology

• First Microarrays in auto-immune diagnostics
• Up to 25 auto-antibodies detected and quantified per strip
• Fully automated in 45 min with Neptune Instrument
• Results in triplicate: Calculation for each results of mean value and standard deviation
• Many built-in controls:
  • Reactive control or Positive control: validity of the test 
  • Conjugate control: control of the conjugate used
  • Substrate kinetic: validity of the substrate
  • 6 point calibration curve: quantitative interpretation
  • Quantitative results and validation of the test with the Neptune Quantification Software

Characteristics DIASPOT assays