sclero-smart™ is a breakthrough blood test that measures the levels of an autoantibody called anti-vinculin, recently found to be elevated in patients who have systemic sclerosis and scleroderma (SSc).

Scleroderma can severely affect the GI tract, with symptoms including intestinal dysmotility, vomiting, bloating, anorexia, severe abdominal pain, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and severe malnutrition.

Scleroderma subjects with elevated anti-vinculin levels have been shown to experience greater gastrointestinal (GI) symptom severity.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is high blood pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs. Patients with scleroderma are at increased risk for developing PH from several mechanisms.

Elevated levels of anti-vinculin in scleroderma patients are also associated with pulmonary hypertension.

In an abstract published by the American College of Rheumatology, anti-vinculin was shown to be elevated in up to 38% of SSc patients, a higher prevalence than any other marker currently used in the diagnosis of scleroderma.  

The measurement of anti-vinculin can be an important test to help rheumatologists identify the risk of gastrointestinal or vascular complications in scleroderma patients.

sclero-smart™ is the only commercially available test that measures anti-vinculin to aid in the diagnosis of scleroderma. The test has been developed through a partnership with the Medically Associated Science and Technology program at Cedars-Sinai.