Clinical cytokine network cytometry

Cytokines play an important role in human health and disease. Monitoring their effects and detecting alterations in the complex balance of cytokines within a patient will undoubtedly become increasingly common in the clinical laboratory. Because of the complexity of the network interactions, multiple assays measuring soluble cytokines ("what"), cytokine-producing cells ("who"), surface receptors ("where"), and function (how) simultaneously are necessary to provide clinically useful information. The explosion of reagents and applications for use in the clinical flow cytometry laboratory makes this the perfect setting to perform the multidimensional studies required. Clinical cytokine network cytometry exemplifies the power of multiparameter, high throughput technologies that will change the face of clinical laboratories in the twenty-first century.