Biomarkers in connective tissue diseases

• Published in: Journal of allergy and clinical immunology Vol. 140; no. 6; pp. 1473 - 1483
• Main Authors: Jog, Neelakshi R., James, Judith A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.12.2017; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Accreditation; Allergies; Antigens; Arthritis; Autoantibodies; Autoimmune diseases; Bioindicators; Biomarkers; Classification; Connective tissue diseases; Copyright; Diagnosis; Disease; Health education; Health risks; Immunoglobulins; Lupus; Medical prognosis; Medical research; Medical treatment; Rheumatoid arthritis; Rheumatology; Scleroderma; Systemic lupus erythematosus; Systemic sclerosis; vasculitis; CRP; ILD; LN; SSc; dcSSc; lcSSc; ACPA; MPO; SLE; systemic lupus erythematosus; systemic sclerosis; NT-proBNP; ANCA; BLyS; RNAP III; ACA; SSA; DAS28; Connective tissue diseases; vasculitis; ESR; biomarkers; rheumatoid arthritis; GDF-15; RA; ACR; PR3; CCP; EGPA; ANA; Dlco; RF; AAV; PAH; HES; GPA; Anti-CarP; dsDNA; MPA
• ISSN: 0091-6749; 1097-6825
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2017.10.003

Autoimmune connective tissue diseases are clinically variable, making biomarkers desirable for assessing future disease risk, supporting early and accurate diagnosis, monitoring disease activity and progression, selecting therapeutics, and assessing treatment response. Because of their correlations with specific clinical characteristics and often with disease progression, autoantibodies and other soluble mediators are considered potential biomarkers. Additional biomarkers might reflect downstream pathologic processes or appear because of ongoing inflammation and damage. Because of overlap between diseases, some biomarkers have limited specificity for a single autoimmune connective tissue disease. This review describes select current biomarkers that aid in the diagnosis and treatment of several major systemic autoimmune connective tissue disorders: systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic sclerosis, and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody–associated vasculitides. Newly proposed biomarkers that target various stages in disease onset or progression are also discussed. Newer approaches to overcome the diversity observed in patients with these diseases and to facilitate personalized disease monitoring and treatment are also addressed.