The Discovery of Novel Biomakers helps in Growth of Autoimmune Disease Diagnostics

 

Autoimmune Disease Diagnostics

To defend the body, the immune system of the human body recognises various invaders such as bacteria, viruses, and foreign substances and assaults them. However, the immune system can occasionally mistake healthy bodily cells for alien ones and attack them. Autoimmune disease is a term used to describe such a disorder. The autoimmune illness causes organ development and function to shift abnormally. The genes of a person who has been exposed to the environment may be the primary cause of autoimmune illness.

Type 1 diabetes, systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory bowel disease, and rheumatoid arthritis are just a few of the roughly 80 forms of autoimmune disorders. A cure for autoimmune illnesses is not yet accessible; instead, only symptomatic therapies are offered. Testing such as antinuclear antibody tests, antibody tests, complete blood counts, and others can be used to diagnose autoimmune disorders.

According to the American Autoimmune Related Disease Association (AARDA), autoimmune illnesses affected over 50 million individuals in the United States in 2016, with 75 percent of those affected being women. Increasing Autoimmune Disease Diagnostics incidence, public awareness, and government initiatives to spend budget on autoimmune disease diagnosis and treatment services are some of the reasons driving the autoimmune disease diagnostics. Many organisations and governments are sponsoring autoimmune disease research and development programmes, which will aid in the introduction of new goods to the market and, consequently, the expansion of the autoimmune disease diagnostics business. For instance, the discovery of novel biomarkers, which has proven to be significant to improve the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases is also one of the major factor driving the autoimmune diseases diagnostic Growth.

When the immune system targets normal tissue in the joints, vasculature, and other organ systems, inflammation, discomfort, decreased mobility, exhaustion, and other non-specific symptoms result. 1 The high degree of overlap in signs and symptoms amongst autoimmune illnesses might cause delays in diagnosis and therapy. According to the Autoimmune Diseases Association, a correct autoimmune illness diagnosis might take up to 4.6 years and approximately 5 medical visits.

For individuals with a suspected autoimmune condition, the antinuclear antibody (ANA) immunofluorescence assay (IFA) is a first-line screening test. Because of its exceptional sensitivity in comparison to other assays, this test is considered the gold standard. 4,5 Positive findings should encourage physicians to look into the cause of a positive ANA IFA and narrow down the list of possible causes. The next section explains how ANA IFA can be utilised in the differential diagnosis of a suspected autoimmune illness when combined with specific autoantibody testing.

An Autoimmune Disease cannot be diagnosed solely based on a positive ANA test. The prevalence of ANAs in healthy people ranges from 3 to 15%. 11 The generation of these autoantibodies is substantially influenced by age, rising to 10-37 percent in healthy people over the age of 65. Even healthy persons who are infected with a virus might have a positive ANA test, although for a brief period of time. Infectious illness patients may also test positive for ANA. Viral illnesses (hepatitis C, parvovirus), bacterial infections (tuberculosis), and parasitic infections are all examples of these (schistosomiasis). A positive ANA can also be caused by some medicines and certain lymphomas.

Examining individuals for possible autoimmune illnesses is challenging since there is no one laboratory test that can confirm such a diagnosis. Basic examinations such as a complete blood count, comprehensive metabolic panel, acute phase reactants, immunologic studies, serologies, flow cytometry, cytokine analysis, and HLA typing are typically required. Although certain tests, such as the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), are non-specific, they are useful in determining disease activity. These tests can aid in the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune disease patients, as well as provide a prognosis or show the level of organ involvement or damage.