EnglishAutoimmune Disease Products & Services
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 most commonly performed procedure in the clinical immunology laboratory is the antinuclear antibody (ANA) test. This test is still performed primarily by the IFA method, although labs have increasingly been shifting to the ELISA method to reduce expenses and improve the 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. Alere 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.
Autoimmune Thryoid Disease
There are two forms of autoimmune thyroid disease: Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s disease.
Celiac Disease
Celiac disease, a hereditary condition, damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food.
Connective Tissue Disease
The term “connective tissue disease” or CTD refers to a family of more than 200 disorders that result from alterations in genes; they may change the structure, development, and functioning of skin, bones, joints, heart, blood vessels, lungs, eyes, and ears.
Autoimmune Vasculitis
Autoimmune Vasculitis is a rare condition in which the body’s immune system, i.e. white blood cells, attacks the blood vessel walls, causing them to narrow or close off and limiting blood flow through the vessel
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease of unknown cause. The immune system normally protects the body against foreign cells such as a virus or bacteria and can differentiate these from “self” tissues.
Other Autoimmune
An autoimmune disorder causes a hypersensitivity reaction in which the immune system attacks healthy tissue.