The emergence of multiplexed technologies as diagnostic platforms in systemic autoimmune diseases

In the last decade, there has been a rapid proliferation of new technologies that are capable of identifying an increasing spectrum of autoantibodies and other biomarkers in autoimmune diseases. These newer diagnostic technologies include line immunoassays, addressable laser bead immunoassays, microarrays in microfluidics platforms and nanobarcode particles. Multiplexed bead assays are a particularly robust platform because they are adaptable to the detection of a variety of disease specific biomarkers, such as autoantibodies, cytokines, adipokines, drugs, oligonucleotides and single nucleotide polymorphisms, Although many laboratories have adopted a variety of these diagnostic platforms to improve turn around times and meet budget constraints, there is an urgent need to ensure that the rapid adoption of new technologies is attended by an appropriate balance of assay sensitivity and specificity.