US Patent 7361517 Real time method of detecting acute inflammatory conditions

This invention relates to the diagnosis and/or monitoring of patients with inflammatory diseases or conditions, including systemic lupus erythematosus, particularly for diagnosis of the acute stage of the disease, including methods and kits for carrying out this activity. This disclosure presents the surprising discovery that levels of complement pathway components on reticulocytes can be used to diagnose, monitor, or predict the occurrence of acute episodes of chronic inflammatory diseases or conditions.