A novel multiplex cytokine respiratory panel to change the dynamics of COVID-19 testing

有许多炎症标志物与各种疾病有关。一组这样的标记物是细胞因子，它是体内不同细胞释放的小蛋白。这些细胞因子起着信使的作用，有助于协调身体对抗感染和炎症的斗争。细胞因子经常在动脉粥样硬化和癌症等疾病的患者的血液中被检测到。最近，在感染新冠肺炎病毒的患者中检测到了一些细胞因子，如白细胞介素6，并发现在那些症状恶化和不幸的是死亡率增加的患者中，细胞因子显著增加。这是由于“细胞因子风暴”，当人的免疫系统进入超负荷并变得失控。这会导致释放非常高水平的细胞因子，进而导致过度炎症，甚至多个器官损伤。细胞因子风暴可能解释了为什么一些人对冠状病毒有严重反应，而另一些人最终只有轻微的症状。对于新冠肺炎这样的肺部疾病，检测痰中的细胞因子水平更有意义，因为这将更能代表肺部本身发生的情况。因此，该项目的目的是调整现有的基于血液的三种关键细胞因子的检测方法，包括白细胞介素6，以便可以在痰样本中安全有效地检测它们。该项目将利用ProAxsis在开发基于痰的测试方面的广泛专业知识来创建一种新的组合测试，该测试能够在少量痰中测量三种关键细胞因子-白介素6、白介素8和肿瘤坏死因子-α的水平。这将帮助医疗专业人员识别哪些感染新冠肺炎病毒的患者可能出现最严重的症状。从长远来看，它还将允许他们测试几种正在开发的治疗新冠肺炎的新药的有效性。ProAxsis将使用它的两名最有经验的科学家在6个月内创造这种基于痰的新组合测试，并迅速将其扩展到世界各地的其他实验室。该公司认为，这将为医护人员抗击新冠肺炎疫情提供一个重要的新工具。自该项目开始以来，科学家们已经证实，白介素6等细胞因子作为生物标志物可以预测哪些感染新冠肺炎病毒的人会出现最严重的症状。然而，他们最近也表明，测量另一种细胞因子白介素10和白介素6的水平，比单独考虑白介素6提供了更好的预测。Impact资金延期将使ProAxsis的科学家能够利用额外的三个月将白细胞介素10添加到新的基于痰的联合检测中，从而提高其支持医疗专业人员识别和治疗新冠肺炎感染者的能力。

There are a number of markers of inflammation which have been associated with various diseases. One group of such markers is the cytokines which are small proteins released by different cells in the body. These cytokines work as messengers and help co-ordinate the body's fight against infection and inflammation. Cytokines are often measured in the blood of patients with illnesses such as atherosclerosis and cancer.Very recently, a number of cytokines, such as interleukin-6, have been measured in patients infected with the COVID-19 virus and have been found to be significantly increased in those who have suffered worse symptoms and unfortunately, increased death rates. This is due to a 'cytokine storm' when the person's immune system goes into overdrive and becomes out of control. This leads to very high levels of cytokines being released which in turn causes excessive inflammation and even multiple organ damage. Cytokine storms may explain why some people have severe reactions to coronaviruses whilst others end up with only mild symptoms.For lung diseases such as COVID-19, it makes more sense to measure cytokine levels in sputum, as this will be more representative of what is occurring in the lungs themselves.Therefore, the aim of this project is to adapt the existing blood-based tests for three of the key cytokines, including interleukin-6, so that they can be safely and effectively measured in sputum samples. The project will use the extensive expertise of ProAxsis in the development of sputum-based tests to create a new combination test, which enables the level of three key cytokines - Interleukin-6, Interleukin-8 and Tumour Necrosis Factor-alpha - to be measured in a small quantity of sputum. This will help healthcare professionals identify which patients infected with the COVID-19 virus are likely to suffer with the most severe symptoms. In the longer-term, it will also allow them to test the effectiveness of several of the new drugs being developed for the treatment of COVID-19\.ProAxsis will use two of its most experienced scientists to create this new sputum-based combination test within six months, and quickly move to expand its availability to other laboratories throughout the World. The company believes that this will provide a significant new tool for healthcare professionals in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.Since the project began, scientists have confirmed how important cytokines such as Interleukin-6 can be as biomarkers for predicting which people who catch the COVID-19 virus will suffer from the worst symptoms. However, they have also very recently shown that measuring the levels of another cytokine, Interleukin-10, in combination with Interleukin-6, provides a better prediction than just considering Interleukin-6 on its own. The Extension for Impact funding will enable the scientists at ProAxsis to use the extra three months to add Interleukin-10 in to the new sputum-based combination test, thereby improving its ability to support healthcare professionals to identify and treat people infected with the COVID-19 virus.