The need – differentiating between autoimmune and infectious diseases.

One of the challenges in diagnosing inflammatory conditions is distinguishing between autoimmune diseases (which can trigger cytokine imbalances) and infections (which can also elevate cytokine levels). In certain cases, especially in individuals with complex medical histories, it might be difficult to differentiate between an infection and a flare-up of an autoimmune disease.

Anti-cytokine auto antibodies could provide insights into whether a cytokine imbalance is due to an autoimmune process, thereby reducing the likelihood of a mistaken diagnosis of infection.

Assessment can also be beneficial for improved diagnostic accuracy in immune-mediated diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, or inflammatory bowel disease. Anti-cytokine auto antibody tests could refine diagnosis, allowing for more targeted treatments, such as immunosuppressive drugs instead of antibiotics.

Reducing Misuse of Antibiotics in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases is critical to the global AMR crisis. Clinicians could use anti-cytokine autoantibodies to better understand the underlying cause of these symptoms, they might be less likely to prescribe antibiotics inappropriately, whilst also understanding and identifying cases of cytokine storm in severe infections.

In some cases, cytokine storm may occur due to infections like sepsis or viral infections (e.g., COVID-19). Cytokine storm is often accompanied by excessive cytokine release, and measuring anti-cytokine autoantibodies could help distinguish between an immune response driven by infection and one driven by an underlying autoimmune condition.

Supporting Personalised Medicine Approaches

Personalised or precision medicine aims to tailor treatments based on individual patient profiles, including the presence of auto antibodies. By integrating anti-cytokine auto antibody testing into clinical decision-making, physicians can provide more targeted therapies (e.g., immunomodulatory treatments) and avoid broad-spectrum antibiotics when not needed.