Can the NovaPRO kits show if RA patients are homozygous for DR4?
These 4 antibodies and two controls detect DR4 (all types), the shared epitope (SE) which gives susceptibility to RA, the DRB1*0401 subtype of DR4 and the DRB1*0404 subtype of DR4. The only way that “homozygosity” can be detected is with the last two antibodies. If both are positive on a patients blood sample then one can state that: * The patient is “homozygous” for DR4 and this is sometimes termed compound heterozygosity to reflect that the alleles, although both DR4, still differ from each other. * The patient is homozygous for the shared epitope (SE). This conclusion is made from a knowledge of the amino-acid sequences of the product of DRB1*0401 and DRB1*0404, both of which are SE positive. Obviously in this case all four antibodies will show positive reactions and this will mean the poorest prognosis. Please refer to Reference # 4 (Weyand), # 5 (Wordsworth) and # 6 (Nepom) in the NovaPRO RA datasheet. 4/ What are the advantages of the NovaPRO test kits over DNA methodology? Our d
