Stanford's new antigen microarrays could transform autoimmune diease treatment and diagnosis

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Stanford's new antigen microarrays could transform autoimmune diease treatment

and diagnosis

Mar 8, 2002 (Datamonitor) - Until now, autoimmune diseases have been difficult

to diagnose and treat. But a new microarray-based technology developed at

Stanford University Medical Center may help solve the problem.

Antigen microarrays, as reported in the March issue of Nature Medicine, give

doctors a glimpse of which antigens come under attack in an autoimmune disease.

By identifying these antigens, doctors can pinpoint diseases and treatment

options. " Prescribing currently available drugs for autoimmune diseases is like

taking a sledgehammer to the immune system, " said Dr , a fellow

in the division of immunology and rheumatology and lead author on the paper.

Such drugs cripple the immune system, preventing it from attacking the body, but

also opening vulnerability to colds and more serious infections, he explained.

Dr P J Utz, senior author on the study and Dr eventually hope to

uncover the tell-tale patterns of all autoimmune diseases. Although diagnosing

disease may be the microarray's most immediate use, an array can also help

design effective treatment for each patient. Microarrays could also help

determine who is at future risk of developing a disease because autoantibodies

may be formed years before signs of illness. Doctors also may use the microarray

in clinical trials of a new drug. Dr Utz explained that not all people with a

given disease produce the same antibodies. Instead, they may produce two or

three out of five that are associated with the disease. By analyzing microarrays

of those who respond to a drug and those who don't, doctors can identify

patterns that show who is most likely to benefit from the drug. © 2000

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