Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease which causes severe damage to the joints and leads to serious mobility impairment in the affected persons. RA cannot be cured, but can nowadays be treated, if diagnosed on time. In contrast to rheumatoid factors (RF), antibodies against the so-called citrullinated peptides (anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies, ACPA) […]
The technological progress constantly pushes the development of intelligent innovations in the field of modern laboratory diagnostics. Today, neither ELISA nor immunoblots or immunofluorescence assays (IFA) need to be incubated manually. Automatic devices take over these tasks in laboratories throughout the world, significantly increasing the processing efficiency. The EUROPattern system, which includes a microscope and
Uromodulin is a kidney-specific glycoprotein, which is mainly secreted in the urine but also, in small amounts, into the bloodstream. Since it was discovered several years ago that mutations and certain polymorphisms in the uromodulin-coding gene (UMOD) are associated with various kidney disorders and kidney vitality, the protein has been increasingly researched. Today, uromodulin is
Clinicians and biologists expect increasing numbers of infections with hantaviruses in Germany this year due to the ongoing strong reproduction of the bank vole and the striped field mouse. The rodents function as reservoirs and spread the virus through their excrements. Dust, contaminated with the pathogen, may be inhaled by humans when sweeping a shed
Slowly but surely the long dark winter months come to end – fortunately, since this season is reason enough for many people to sink into melancholy. But winter depression and tiredness could actually have a medical reason, namely vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is in short supply in winter because people need UVB rays from the sun on
