Autoimmune diseases, more than 80 of which have been identified,
cause significant morbidity and disability in the United States and
are notoriously difficult to diagnose. Performing the proper tests
is essential to shortening the amount of time to diagnosis and
reducing laboratory and patient care costs. The autoimmune disease profile table and testing
algorithm provided here can help physicians and laboratorians
choose the most appropriate tests for specific patients.
The most commonly performed procedure in the clinical immunology
laboratory - the antinuclear antibody (ANA) test - is still
performed primarily by IFA, although increasingly labs have been
shifting to the ELISA method to reduce expenses and improve
reproducibility of results. A new and innovative ANA test that can
provide labor and cost savings along with more consistent results
compared to both IFA and ELISA is the AtheNA
Multi-Lyte® ANA Test System.* Inverness Medical Professional
Diagnostics is the exclusive distributor of this multiplexed,
bead-based system and currently offers three other AtheNA systems
to aid in the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases: the AtheNA Multi-Lyte® ANCA Test System, the AtheNA Multi-Lyte® Rheumatoid Factor Test System
and the AtheNA Multi-Lyte® TPO/Tg Test
System. Our broad autoimmune disease test menu also includes
conventional ANA, IFA, and ELISA kits as well as a range of other
IFA, ELISA, and
serology/agglutination tests.
View all autoimmune disease tests
*All AtheNA Multi-Lyte® serological
assays have been developed and are manufactured by Zeus Scientific,
Inc., and are marketed exclusively by Inverness Medical
Professional Diagnostics. Each is composed of a bench-top flow
analyzer and differentially dyed and distinguishable microspheres
developed by the Luminex Corporation.
†Manufactured by Axis-Shield for
Inverness Medical.