AUTOANTIGENS, AUTOANTIBODIES, AUTOIMMUNITY
Volume 2, third Edition – 2015

Eight years have already passed since the publication of the last edition of this diagnostic reference. Studies and reports of new autoantibodies and their clinical associations remain a very dynamic field of study. As examples, novel classification criteria for rheumatoid arthritis that now include autoantibodies against citrullinated protein/peptide allowing an earlier and more accurate diagnosis have been created and evaluated; novel diagnostic and/or pathogenic autoantibodies in patients with autoimmune inflammatory myopathies, systemic sclerosis and spondyloarthropathies have been described. In addition, novel assays for autoantibody determinations have been developed and transfered into routine diagnostics. Furthermore, novel results of evaluation studies and meta-analyses have lead to a reassessment of some of the clinical relevances of some autoantibody specificities. All these aspects required an updated and timely completion of this volume to meet the requirements of a comprehensive and useful reference book for the serological diagnosis of autoimmune diseases as well as clinically relevant autoimmune research. The authors want to thank all mindful and critical readers for their useful hints since the publication of the last edition.