Apport du multiplexage en pratique diagnostique immunologique

In recent years, multiplex immunoassays have been increasingly used in clinical laboratories, especially in the field of autoimmune serology. These new analytical methods allow the simultaneous detection of several autoantibodies, thus enhancing the laboratory productivity and inciting to define autoantiboby profiles suitable for the diagnosis and follow-up of the main autoimmune diseases. Whether based on the principle of immunodot, Luminex® technology (bead arrays) or planar protein microarrays, each of these methods has its own advantages and limits that must carefully examined to choose them. Widely used, immunodots are mainly suitable for analyses performed rarely or in small series. More recent multiplex bead array assays using the Luminex® technology allow large scale quantitative determination of the main autoantibodies. Planar antigen microarrays are suitable for still higher throughput. Up to know they have been developed for research purposes, but applications for routine detection of autoantibodies should be available soon.