Disease Areas

NETosis

Understanding NETosis and NETs

One nurse showing a framed photograph of a relative to a COVID patient.

Disease

NETosis is a critical immune process where neutrophils release neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to capture pathogens.

Increasingly, NETosis is recognized as a clinically relevant process across multiple conditions which can be measured through the quantification of NETs.

What are NETs? As part of our normal response to a pathogen infection, neutrophils (the main white blood cell) produce a web of decondensed chromatin to trap and kill bacteria, fungi and viruses. These are called neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs).

Although NETs play a critical role in our normal immune response, some people have elevated levels of NETs which can lead to tissue damage and, in severe cases, sepsis, organ failure, and death.

Challenges

NETosis is a complex immune response that can be difficult to identify and quantify in clinical settings. It spans multiple diseases, and its effects often overlap with broader inflammatory processes, making it challenging to isolate and interpret.

There is currently a lack of standardized, accessible tests to measure NETosis directly. As a result, clinicians and researchers often rely on indirect markers of inflammation, which may not fully capture NET-driven pathology or provide timely, actionable insights.

Without the ability to accurately assess NETosis, excessive NET formation may go undetected, contributing to ongoing tissue damage, thrombosis, and disease progression across conditions such as sepsis, cancer, and autoimmune disorders.

Improved tools to measure NETosis in real time are critical to enable earlier intervention, better patient stratification, and more effective monitoring of treatment response.

What diseases are impacted by NETosis and NETs?

Measuring NETosis with Nu.Q^® NETs

Our biomarker-driven solution, Nu.Q^® NETs, enables clinicians and researchers to anticipate disease, help guide treatment decisions, and monitor patients over time, across both acute and chronic conditions, thus enabling personalized care.

Nu.Q^{^®} NETs is a blood-based biomarker solution designed to quantify NETosis quickly and non-invasively.

Learn more about Nu.Q^{^®} NETs

Potential applications

Clinical use cases in sepsis

Early detection: identify patients at risk for earlier intervention

Enables earlier intervention
Supports ED and ICU triage
Reduces time to treatment

Prediction/Tx Selection: Risk stratification and therapy optimization

Predicts severity and organ failure in sepsis
Guides treatment sensitivity
Supports precise critical care

Treatment monitoring: Monitor disease progression and response

Tracks response to therapy
Enables adaptive management

Emerging Indications:

Trauma:

Early prediction of thrombotic and inflammatory complications

Antiphospholipid Syndrome:

Risk indicator of thrombosis enabling personalized treatment selection and monitoring

Hidradenitis Suppurativa:

Early detection of flares supporting long-term patient management; aid treatment selection and response monitoring

“The data from two large independent critical care studies provide compelling evidence that H3.1 nucleosome measurement offers clinicians a practical means of assessing NET formation at the bedside. It’s exciting to see evidence emerging not only in other acute diseases but in chronic conditions too.”

– Dr Andrew Retter, Critical Care Lead, UK and Medical Consultant, Volition

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Resources

Brochures & Clinical Papers

Next Steps

Talk to a specialist.

Please contact our expert team for more information about Nu.Q^® NETs.

Get in touch with an expert

Cancer

Cancer is a devastating disease that touches many peoples’ lives, accounting for approximately 10 million deaths worldwide each year. It is the second leading cause of death globally and exerts an enormous burden on families, communities, and health systems.

NETosis

Understanding NETosis and NETs

NETosis is a critical immune process where neutrophils release neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to capture pathogens.

Challenges

Improved tools to measure NETosis in real time are critical to enable earlier intervention, better patient stratification, and more effective monitoring of treatment response.

What diseases are impacted by NETosis and NETs?

Measuring NETosis with Nu.Q® NETs

Potential applications

Brochures & Clinical Papers

“The NET effect”: Neutrophil extracellular traps—a potential…

Quantification of H3.1-nucleosomes using a chemiluminescent …

Chromatin changes associated with neutrophil extracellular t…

Understanding the complex chromatin dynamics in primary huma…

Nu.Q® NETs immunoassay detects Neutrophil Extracellular Trap…

Talk to a specialist.

Cancer

Measuring NETosis with Nu.Q^® NETs