Method for characterizing autoimmune disorders

1. A method to determine the presence, absence or onset of an autoimmune disease within a patient, comprising:

exposing a first sample of biological fluid from the patient to a pooled population of particles, wherein a first subset of particles of the pooled population are distinguishable from a second subset of particles of the pooled population based at least on fluorescence characteristics of the particles and at least two different reactants respectively bound thereto, wherein the first subset of particles is bound to a reactant that binds to an autoantibody, and wherein the second subset of particles is bound to a reactant that binds to a self-antigen;

measuring an amount of the autoantibody in the first sample of biological fluid;

measuring an amount of the self-antigen in the first sample of biological fluid;

determining a ratio of the measured amount of autoantibody to the measured amount of self-antigen; and

comparing the ratio to one or more standard ratios representing differing states of the autoimmune disease to determine the presence, absence, or onset of the autoimmune disease within the patient.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the reactant bound to first subset of particles is the self-antigen and the reactant bound to the second subset of particles is a monoclonal antibody specific for the self-antigen.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the reactant bound to the first subset of particles is chosen from the self-antigen and variations of the self-antigen.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the autoimmune disease is chosen from type I diabetes mellitus, Grave's disease, psoriasis, Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, Hashimoto's thyroditis, systemic lupus erythematosis, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, Sjogren's syndrome, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, silicon implant-induced autoimmune reaction, immune deficiency syndrome, hepatitis C, Takayasu's arthritis, phagoneuroglanulomatosis, nyasthenia gravis, cirrhosis, Birdshot retinopathy, and anti-coagulant deficiency due to autoantibodies.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

repeating the step of exposing and the two steps of measuring for one or more additional samples of biological fluid taken from the patient, wherein the one or more additional samples are taken successively in time relative to each other and the first sample of biological fluid;

determining a discrete ratio of autoantibody to self-antigen for each of the one or more additional biological fluid samples; and

comparing a ratio determined for at least one of the one or more additional biological fluid samples to a ratio determined for the first sample of biological fluid to analyze a subsequent state of the disease in the patient, wherein the state of the disease:

has progressed on condition that the compared ratio is greater than the ratio for the first sample of biological fluid.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the biological fluid is selected from a group comprising blood, serum, plasma, sweat, tears, urine, sputum, saliva, semen, cerebrospinal fluid, alveolar fluid, lung lavage, gastric fluid, gastric lavage, peritoneal fluid, wound fluid, nasal discharge, bone marrow sample, cyst fluid, or combinations thereof.

7. A method to determine the presence, absence or onset of an autoimmune disease within a patient, comprising:

exposing a first sample of biological fluid from the patient to a pooled population of particles, wherein a first subset of particles of the pooled population are distinguishable from a second subset of particles of the pooled population based at least on fluorescence characteristics of the particles and at least two different reactants respectively bound thereto, wherein the first subset of particles is bound to a reactant that binds to an autoantibody, and wherein the second subset of particles is bound to a reactant that binds to an antigen;

measuring an amount of the autoantibody in the first sample of biological fluid;

measuring an amount of the antigen in the first sample of biological fluid;

determining a ratio of the measured amount of autoantibody to the measured amount of antigen; and

comparing the ratio to one or more standard ratios representing differing states of the autoimmune disease to determine the presence, absence, or onset of the autoimmune disease within the patient.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the disease is a disorder involving circulating antigens.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

repeating the step of exposing and the two steps of measuring for one or more additional samples of biological fluid taken from the patient, wherein the one or more additional samples are taken successively in time relative to each other and the first sample of biological fluid;

determining a discrete ratio of autoantibody to antigen for each of the one or more additional biological fluid samples; and

comparing a ratio determined for at least one of the one or more additional biological fluid samples to a ratio determined for the first sample of biological fluid to analyze a subsequent state of the disease in the patient, wherein the state of the disease:

has progressed on condition that the compared ratio is greater than the ratio for the first sample of biological fluid.

10. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the biological fluid is selected from a group comprising blood, serum, plasma, sweat, tears, urine, sputum, saliva, semen, cerebrospinal fluid, alveolar fluid, lung lavage, gastric fluid, gastric lavage, peritoneal fluid, wound fluid, nasal discharge, bone marrow sample, cyst fluid, or combinations thereof.