The first step in utilizing immune-modulating therapies: immune status determination

Recently, a single center study conducted by Oiva and coworkers and published in Critical Care demonstrated that phospho-specific whole blood flow cytometry could be used to assess activated signaling pathways in leukocytes isolated from pancreatitis patients. The authors demonstrated that this methodology had the potential to determine the current status of a patient's immune state. Although the experimental cohort was clinically homogeneous, the observed data were heterogeneous. Altogether, these results suggest that prior to administering immune-modulatory therapies in inflammatory diseases, it will be beneficial to first determine immune status. Rapid results from whole blood phospho-specific flow cytometry may allow for determination of immune status, improve early diagnosis, and provide a rational basis for immunomodulatory therapies.