Patent ID: 6117642
Filing Date: 2000-09-12
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
A method for determining a level of disease activity in a patient previously diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), comprising(i) measuring sCD40L in body fluid collected from the SLE patient and a population of normal control patients, wherein said measuring is achieved using a method selected from the group consisting of immunoassay, receptor-binding assay, and biological activity assay; and(ii) correlating the level of sCD40L measured in the body fluid collected from the SLE patient with the level of SLE disease activity in the patient, wherein active disease is characterized by the presence of about 5,000 to about 30,000 pg sCD40L/ml body fluid, inactive disease is characterized by the presence of 1,000 to below about 5,000 pg sCD40L/ml body fluid and no disease is characterized by the mean level of sCD40L in the population of normal control patients.