Quanterix, a provider of molecular diagnostic tests, has reported the results of a study which measures biomarkers of inflammation from patients with Crohn's disease.

Quanterix is developing its proprietary single molecule array (SiMoA) technology for the in vitro diagnostics and life science research markets.

SiMoA will enable researchers in life science to validate novel, low abundance biomolecules from a single droplet of blood, leading to greater insight into disease detection, diagnosis, therapy selection and disease monitoring.

The precise measurement of low abundance cytokines, which was possible using Quanterix’s high sensitivity digital ELISA, allowed significant changes to be detected in patients before and after initiation of therapy.

Study corresponding author David Duffy said Quanterix’s digital ELISA enabled physiologically relevant concentrations of two important cytokines, TNF-alpha and IL-6, to be measured in plasma from all patient samples tested.

"The sensitivity of this technology also made it possible to quantify changes in protein levels during the course of anti-TNF-alpha therapy," Duffy said.

Quanterix executive chairman Martin Madaus said although larger studies will be needed to understand the utility of cytokine measurements in the diagnosis of inflammatory diseases such as Crohn’s, the results provide some indication of how sensitive and precise protein measurements enabled by SiMoA could be used clinically.