On May 20-22, 2021, the 25th National Conference on Rheumatology of Chinese Medical Association was grandly held in Shenzhen International Convention and Exhibition Center, and famous experts and scholars in the field of rheumatology from all over the country gathered to share the academic feast.
On May 22, from 10: 40 to 11: 00, Professor J. Gu from the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University arrived as scheduled with the academic symposium “Perfect Couple: When Autoimmune Diseases Meet Flow Fluorescence”. The meeting was presided over by Wang Yongfu, director of the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Baotou Medical College of Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, and Wu Zhenbiao, director of the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of Xijing Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University. Professor Gu gave a wonderful report at the meeting. After the meeting, the teachers responded enthusiastically and benefited a lot.
Professor Gu made a professional report on the significance of autoantibody joint inspection, the value of quantitative detection, the market situation of detection and the application of flow fluorescence technology in autoantibody detection, and analyzed the necessity of autoantibody joint inspection from a clinical point of view. She pointed out that one kind of autoantibody corresponds to many kinds of autoimmune diseases, and there are many kinds of autoantibodies in one kind of autoimmune disease, so the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases can not be limited to the single detection of certain antibodies, and the joint detection of multiple indexes is needed to effectively avoid the missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis of diseases.
Significance of Joint Detection of Autoantibodies
Professor Gu pointed out that autoantibodies are an important item in the diagnosis or classification criteria of various autoimmune diseases. In these classification criteria, the importance of quantitative detection is basically emphasized, and many autoantibodies directly participate in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. Quantitative detection can reflect the activity and therapeutic effect of diseases, and predict the occurrence and development of diseases.
Value of Quantitative Detection of Autoantibodies
Professor Gu pointed out that autoantibodies are an important item in the diagnosis or classification criteria of various autoimmune diseases. In these classification criteria, the importance of quantitative detection is basically emphasized, and many autoantibodies directly participate in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. Quantitative detection can reflect the activity and therapeutic effect of diseases, and predict the occurrence and development of diseases.
Common Methodology of Autoantibody Detection
Professor Gu analyzed the differences among several common methods of autoantibody detection in China. Among them, ELISA and chemiluminescence method have high sensitivity and quantification, but they have low detection flux, need to be detected one by one, and the chemiluminescence cost is high; Although western blotting can be used for joint inspection, the detection results can not be quantified, and the specificity of some indicators is low; The flow fluorescence technology combines the strengths of many people, and realizes the vision of automatic detection, high throughput, digital quantification and on-demand inspection of autoantibodies.
Flow Fluorescence Technique and Autoantibody Detection
Why can flow fluorescence technology become such a magical “generalist”? Professor Gu then summed up the technical principle behind it in a simple way: Flow fluorescence technology is a multifunctional liquid phase analysis technology platform developed on the basis of fluorescent coded microspheres, laser technology, applied fluidics, and high-speed digital signal processing technology. Firstly, different reactions are marked by coded microspheres, and the reacted antigen substances are fixed on the surface of the reaction carrier by covalent cross-linking technology, and the immune reaction of antigen and antibody is completed in the liquid phase environment. Finally, the detection item information and quantitative detection results can be obtained simultaneously by double laser analysis.
Professor Gu shared the results of 2019 US CAP autoantibody room quality evaluation statistics, in which about 56% of laboratories used flow fluorescence technology to detect autoantibodies. However, there is a big gap between the detection level of autoantibodies in China and the United States, which is worth pondering and learning.
Professor Gu then shared a series of latest literature at home and abroad. The results showed that the comparison results of flow fluorescence and ELISA were highly consistent, and have a high predictive value for lupus erythematosus and lupus nephritis. A large number of performance verification experiments have been done in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. The results show that the detection results of the anti-nucleic antibodies spectrum are highly consistent with the ELISA method, and the detection results of quantitative indicators (dsDNA, C1q) are equivalent. The self-exemption project based on flow fluorescence technology has won unanimous praise from experts in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. And this methodology was written as a recommended methodology in “Expert Consensus on Clinical Application of Anti-neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody Detection”.