We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

Download Mobile App




Simple and Accessible Blood Test to Enable Faster Diagnosis of Rare Autoimmune Disease

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 17 Jan 2024
Print article
Image: A newly identified biomarker could lead to a simple blood test for a rare autoimmune disease (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)
Image: A newly identified biomarker could lead to a simple blood test for a rare autoimmune disease (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Myasthenia gravis, a rare autoimmune disease characterized by "severe muscle weakness," affects approximately one in 5,000 people, predominantly women under 40 and men over 60. Symptoms include drooping eyelids, double vision, difficulty speaking, chewing, breathing, and controlling limbs. In severe cases, it can be life-threatening. Current blood tests for myasthenia gravis target one of three antibodies and can take weeks to yield results. In 15 to 50% of cases, patients with the disease have negative antibody tests. Due to symptom similarities with other neurological conditions like stroke or multiple sclerosis, accurate diagnosis often takes up to two years. Researchers have now identified a universal biological marker that could lead to a quicker, more accessible diagnostic test for myasthenia gravis.

The research team at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada) employed advanced proteomics to identify significantly higher blood levels of the protein fibrinogen in myasthenia gravis patients, compared to healthy individuals and those with rheumatoid arthritis. They analyzed blood samples from 31 myasthenia gravis patients, 30 healthy controls, and 18 rheumatoid arthritis patients, applying various proteomic techniques. These analyses revealed that fibrinogen levels were about 1,000 times higher in all myasthenia gravis patient samples. They replicated these findings with other methods and further validated the results using blinded samples.

The reason behind the elevated fibrinogen levels in myasthenia gravis patients remains unclear, though it is suspected to be related to chronic inflammation. Further research is necessary to fully understand the underlying mechanisms. Previously, the team had identified other myasthenia gravis biomarkers using metabolomics, but such techniques are limited to major medical centers. The newly identified biomarker, detectable with simpler technology, could potentially be used in smaller hospitals and rural centers. The researchers also anticipate that this biomarker might help monitor patients’ response to treatment in the future. Plans are underway for a larger study to confirm these findings and to develop a simpler, faster diagnostic test.

“We have found a simple and universal biomarker for all types of myasthenia gravis regardless of the stage of the disease, so I hope we can use this methodology to diagnose patients much quicker,” said principal investigator and neurologist Zaeem Siddiqi.

Related Links:
University of Alberta

Gold Member
Pharmacogenetics Panel
VeriDose Core Panel v2.0
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
TETANUS Test
TETANUS VIRCLIA IgG MONOTEST
New
Malaria Test
STANDARD Q Malaria P.f/Pan Ag

Print article

Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel
Image: The tiny clay-based materials can be customized for a range of medical applications (Photo courtesy of Angira Roy and Sam O’Keefe)

‘Brilliantly Luminous’ Nanoscale Chemical Tool to Improve Disease Detection

Thousands of commercially available glowing molecules known as fluorophores are commonly used in medical imaging, disease detection, biomarker tagging, and chemical analysis. They are also integral in... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The cancer stem cell test can accurately choose more effective treatments (Photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati)

Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more

Microbiology

view channel
Image: The lab-in-tube assay could improve TB diagnoses in rural or resource-limited areas (Photo courtesy of Kenny Lass/Tulane University)

Handheld Device Delivers Low-Cost TB Results in Less Than One Hour

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the deadliest infectious disease globally, affecting an estimated 10 million people annually. In 2021, about 4.2 million TB cases went undiagnosed or unreported, mainly due to... Read more

Pathology

view channel
Image: The ready-to-use DUB enzyme assay kits accelerate routine DUB activity assays without compromising data quality (Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock)

Sensitive and Specific DUB Enzyme Assay Kits Require Minimal Setup Without Substrate Preparation

Ubiquitination and deubiquitination are two important physiological processes in the ubiquitin-proteasome system, responsible for protein degradation in cells. Deubiquitinating (DUB) enzymes contain around... Read more

Technology

view channel
Image: The HIV-1 self-testing chip will be capable of selectively detecting HIV in whole blood samples (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Disposable Microchip Technology Could Selectively Detect HIV in Whole Blood Samples

As of the end of 2023, approximately 40 million people globally were living with HIV, and around 630,000 individuals died from AIDS-related illnesses that same year. Despite a substantial decline in deaths... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The collaboration aims to leverage Oxford Nanopore\'s sequencing platform and Cepheid\'s GeneXpert system to advance the field of sequencing for infectious diseases (Photo courtesy of Cepheid)

Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions

Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.