COVID-19 Cytokine Storm Multiplex Assays

CRS is a heterogeneous condition which can present with different symptoms that vary in severity. It most commonly begins with symptoms such as fever, chills, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and headache. In serious cases it may lead to seizures, arrythmia, and possible organ failure.

Figure: CRS Cytokines and Symptoms

Some of the most well-known causes of CRS include allogeneic transplants, therapeutic interventions, and viral infections. Recently however, focus has been on the involvement of CRS in COVID-19. With the collation and publication of more and more clinical data, a large number of data suggest that there are mild or severe cytokine storms in severe patients, which is an important cause of death.

The pathogenesis of CRS is not fully understood. However, certain key mediators of cytokine release syndrome have been identified. Chief among these is interleukin 6 (IL-6), an activator of the JAK/STAT signalling pathway which can bind to two forms of its receptor (soluble and transmembrane).

IL-6, along with IL-10 and IFNγ are the cytokines most consistently implicated in CRS. These three cytokines are usually elevated in the serum of patients with cytokine storm. TNF, IL-1, IL-8 and MCP-1 are more prominent early in CRS onset, with IL-6 produced later in the progression of the syndrome in higher quantities. IL-6 production is increased by TNF and IL-1, thus linking the signal of early-response cytokines to late onset profiles.

At present, multiple therapeutics target the pathways which are affected by the pro-inflammatory cytokines of CRS. In particular, blocking IL-6 with therapies such as Tocilizumab and Siltuximab has gained much support globally.

However, to proactively tackle the issue there is need for an accurate diagnostic assay that can rapidly establish if a patient is suffering from Cytokine Release Syndrome. This may be the difference between the development of mild CRS to severe CRS, even the difference between life and death.

This is where our Genie Plex Cytokine Storm Multiplex Immunoassays come in.

GeniePlex COVID-19 Multiplex Cytokine Immunoassays are a form of bead-based Multiplex Immunoassay kit that enables the simultaneous and quantitative detection of a range of cytokines. The selection of cytokines targeted is dependent on the species in which the kit is created for.

Not only can Genie Plex Cytokine Storm Multiplex Immunoassays detect and quantify a wide variety of pro-inflammatory cytokines, but they can do this with as little 15ul of sample, in as little as 2 hours!

Our kits can also be run on almost any Flow Cytometer using a range of samples such as Serum, Plasma, Cell culture supernatant, Cell lysates, Tissue lysates and other samples types.

Figure 1. Protocol Overview
1.) Add you Genieplex antibody bead conjugates to your well. 2.) Add your samples and standards to the wells. Incubate your samples at room temperature for 60 mins. Followed by washing the plate X3 using a filter plate vacuum system. 3) Add your biotinylated antibodies and incubate for 30 mins. Followed by washing the plate X3 using a filter plate vacuum system. 4) Add your streptavidin-PE solution and incubate for 20 mins. Followed by washing the plate X3 using a filter plate vacuum system. 5) Add Reading Buffer and read your samples on a flow cytometer. 7) Analyze your data.