Autoimmune diseases are the third most frequent form of disease in the industrialised world. The immune system turns against its own organism and produces autoantibodies. These can be detected in bodily fluids, allowing diagnosis of particular diseases.

In recent years there have been exciting developments in the area of designer antigens. These have led to new possibilities in cell-based assays based on BIOCHIP technology.

The areas of neurology (especially differential diagnosis of tumour-associated encephalitis) and dermatology (blister-inducing skin diseases) have profited in particular from these developments. Significant advances have also been made in diagnostics for rheumatic diseases. Today, over 100 different cell-nuclear antibodies can be rapidly and reliably differentiated.

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Bacteria, viruses and fungi can be harmless or they can cause severe disease. An exact diagnosis is required before implementing target therapy. In many cases antibody determination is necessary alongside direct pathogen detection.   

Test techniques are constantly being optimised and diagnostics for new infections developed. Thanks to customised antigens, e.g. for Borrelia diagnostics, infection-induced antibodies can now be more thoroughly differentiated than even a few years ago. Over 50 different antibodies can be identified in a single incubation by indirect immunofluorescence using BIOCHIP Mosaics.

The determination of antibody avidity  using ELISA, indirect immunofluorescence or immunoblot also provides doctors with important information about the immune status of patients.

In Europe, around every fourth child under ten years old suffers from an allergy. Allergies are reactions of the immune system to specific, normally harmless environmental substances (allergens). These reactions can be severe. Only when the triggers have been identified can the affected person avoid exposure or obtain targeted therapy. Our specific IgE antibody tests make an important contribution to this process.

Our laboratory offers a complete range of  serological allergy diagnostics using line blots, ELISA and luminescence procedures. These increasingly employ recombinant or precisely characterised native allergen components in place of poorly defined raw extracts, so-called single purified allergen components (SPAC).

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Molecular genetics has gained great significance in the space of just a few years.

We anticipate the incorporation of many additional test parameters in the near future.

According to laws on genetic diagnostics, we are only allowed to a perform human genetic analysis if the patient has provided a declaration of consent.