Examinations of antigen-antibody bindings in diseases of the immune system

At the suggestion of the DGKL board and in consultation with the advisory board of the Society for the Promotion of Immunodiagnostics e.V., the ‘Immunodiagnostics’ section was founded on September 30, 2010. The inaugural meeting took place during the DGKL annual conference in Mannheim.

Immunodiagnostics is a specialized field of laboratory diagnostics with fluid transitions into other specialized areas (e.g., endocrinological laboratory diagnostics; J Lab Med 2010;34:93-94). The term ‘immunodiagnostics’ is not uniformly defined and, according to earlier concepts, encompasses diagnostics using immunological detection methods, but according to more recent understanding, it includes the analysis of all parameters concerning the immune system (immune cells, immune mediators, antibodies, immune genes) for the diagnosis of immune diseases (allergies, autoimmune diseases, autoinflammatory diseases, immunodeficiency diseases) or pathological or undesired immune reactions (transplant rejection, graft-versus-host disease, recurrent miscarriages). From immunogenetic, serological (classical substrate-bound immunofluorescence methods, immunodiffusion or precipitation, specific immunoassays such as ELISA or RIA) to cellular procedures (flow cytometry, Elispot, IGRA), a variety of methods are available today to detect diseases and monitor therapies. Due to the interdisciplinary orientation (for example, the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases is relevant for all medical sub-disciplines!), there has been no committee so far that aims to bundle all aspects of immunodiagnostics. An interdisciplinary collaboration under the umbrella of DGKL is now intended to provide impetus for optimizing this specialized field.

The main goal of the Immunodiagnostics section is to establish a competence network for immunological diagnostics and thus bundle interdisciplinary activities in the field of immunodiagnostics. In the past, it has often been shown that consecutively collected findings constellations, which were discussed in dialogue with clinically active colleagues, have gained importance and enabled high evidence. The Immunodiagnostics section therefore aims to offer laboratory physicians, clinical immunologists, interested doctors from all medical sub-disciplines, and basic scientists a platform within the DGKL that allows them to

1. engage in professional discussions and initiate collaborations,
2. promote education and training in this important interdisciplinary field on both a medical-technical and scientific basis,
3. enable the organization of events and continuing education together with other sections and working groups of immunologically oriented professional societies, and
4. advance the standardization of methods and further develop quality assurance.

To bring the work of the section to life, active participation of members and the recruitment of additional members (especially for certain specialized areas such as immunogenetics, immunodeficiency diagnostics) is necessary. We would like to cordially encourage all colleagues who are interested in the mentioned topics and are members of DGKL to participate. You can officially join the section through the DGKL office. This can be done either via a form available for download on the DGKL homepage or informally by email. Non-members of DGKL are cordially invited to participate in the section’s work through topic-related working groups.