New whole-blood assay for detecting immune autoantibodies promises to revolutionize diagnostics, offering rapid, cost-effective solutions to detect inborn errors of immunity and neutralizing antibodies against type I interferons. Study: A sensitive assay for measuring whole-blood responses to type I IFNs . Image Credit: nobeastsofierce / Shutterstock A recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported a novel, cost-effective whole-blood assay to measure responses to type I interferons (IFNs) and detect autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against these IFNs.
Autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against type I IFNs were first described in a patient with disseminated shingles in the early 1980s. They were long believed to be clinically silent, and their discovery in autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS-1) patients led to their use as a diagnostic marker for APS-1. Currently, in vitro cell-based assays are available for detecting auto-Abs against type I IFNs.
While these assays are sensitive and robust, they are expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive, restricting their widespread use. The study and findings In the present study, researchers developed a simple, more affordable, quick method to detect auto-Abs against type I IFNs. First, whole blood from three healthy donors was stimulated with recombinant human IFN-α2.
The production of 25 chemokines and cytokines was assessed 16 hours later using.