The use and abuse of commercial kits used to detect autoantibodies 英文参考文献.docVIP

Arthritis Research Therapy Vol 5 No 4 Fritzler et al. Review The use and abuse of commercial kits used to detect autoantibodies Marvin J Fritzler1, Allan Wiik2, Mark L Fritzler1 and Susan G Barr1 1Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada 2Department of Autoimmunology, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark Correspondence: Marvin J Fritzler (e-mail: fritzler@ucalgary.ca) Received: 1 Apr 2003 Revisions requested: 29 Apr 2003 Revisions received: 1 May 2003 Accepted: 6 May 2003 Published: 9 Jun 2003 Arthritis Res Ther 2003, 5:192-201 (DOI 10.1186/ar782) ? 2003 BioMed Central Ltd (Print ISSN 1478-6354; Online ISSN 1478-6362) Abstract The detection of autoantibodies in human sera is an important approach to the diagnosis and management of patients with autoimmune conditions. To meet market demands, manufacturers have developed a wide variety of easy to use and cost-effective diagnostic kits that are designed to detect a variety of human serum autoantibodies. A number of studies over the past two decades have suggested that there are limitations and concerns in the use and clinical application of test results derived from commercial kits. It is important to appreciate that there is a complex chain of users and circumstances that contributes to variations in the apparent reliability of commercial kits. The goal of this review is to identify the principal links in this chain, to identify the factors that weaken the chain and to propose a plan of resolution. It is suggested that a higher level of commitment and partnership between all of the participants is required to achieve the goal of improving the quality of patient care through the use of autoantibody testing and analysis. Keywords: autoantibodies, autoimmunity, diagnosis, diagnostic kits, quality assurance, standardization Introduction (IIF), immunodiffusion, immunoblotting, ELISA and, more recently, addressable