Biomarkers are those measurable substances in the body which associated with the intensity of a disease or other physiological states. Biomarkers can be used in many fields of clinical practice such as disease diagnosis, disease activity evaluation, and disease pathogenesis study.

Autoimmune diseases are a group of chronic diseases. The pathogenesis of autoimmune disease in still not clear and there is no cure for this group of disease. One of the most important characteristics of autoimmune disease is the presence of autoantibody in serum. Several autoantibodies such as anti-dsDNA, SSA, and SSB have been used as useful tool in autoimmune disease diagnosis. Since the discovery of the first autoantibody in systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE), more than 300 different autoantibodies have been found in different kinds of autoimmune diseases to date. Besides autoantibodies, other biomarkers such as cytokines, miRNA, and lncRNA are also being found differently expressed in some autoimmune diseases. Besides in the serum, disease specific biomarkers have also been found in other bodily fluids such as tears and saliva. However, we still need more new biomarkers for the purpose of early diagnosis or further classification of some heterogeneous autoimmune diseases. A comprehensive knowledge of those biomarkers will help us give a better management of autoimmune diseases.

We invite authors to contribute original research articles as well as review articles about new biomarkers in autoimmune disease. Papers should either explore some new autoimmune disease specific biomarkers or summarize new biomarkers that have recently been found.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• New biomarkers in systematic lupus erythematosus
• New biomarkers in Sjogren's syndrome
• New biomarkers in systematic sclerosis
• New biomarkers in polymyositis/dermamyositis
• New biomarkers in inflammatory arthritis
• New biomarkers in Behcet disease