Autoantibodies as predictors of disease

Autoimmune diseasesActivation of the immune response is a major feature of many disease processes.Immune responses can be protective, as in infectious diseases, or destructive, as in autoimmune inflammatory diseases, or both.The immune response usually involves activation of both T and B cells, the latter producing antibodies that can be detected in the sera and can be used to guide the clinical management of certain diseases.Here, we focus on autoantibodies as predictive markers of disease.While the practical value of autoantibodies has been realized in some clinical conditions, it remains underutilized in the majority of diseases.Recognizing the clinical potential of autoantibodies and identifying appropriate populations to screen for such autoantibodies, we argue, could have rich practical rewards.