C3-HNE Assay

2:

• The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method is a method of immunoassay for detecting and/or monitoring inflammatory bowel disease or a particular level of severity thereof in a patient, the method further comprising;
• ii) correlating said amount of binding with values associated with normal healthy subjects and/or values associated with known disease severity and/or values obtained from said patient at a previous time point and/or with a predetermined cut-off value.

3:

• The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the inflammatory bowel disease is Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.

4:

• The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the patient sample is selected from blood, plasma or serum.

5:

• The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the monoclonal antibody specifically binds to the N-terminus amino acid sequence PGKNGERGGP (SEQ ID NO:
• 1) and does not specifically bind to a peptide having the N-terminus amino acid sequence APGKNGERGGP(SEQ ID NO:
• 2).

6:

• The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the monoclonal antibody specifically binds to the N-terminus amino acid sequence PGKNGERGGP (SEQ ID No:
• 1) and does not specifically bind to a peptide having the N-terminus amino acid sequence GKNGERGGP (SEQ ID NO:
• 3).

7:

• The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the monoclonal antibody is raised against a synthetic peptide having the N-terminus amino acid sequence PGKNGERGGP (SEQ ID NO:
• 1).

8:

• The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the immunoassay is a competition assay or a sandwich assay.

9:

• The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the immunoassay is a radio-immunoassay or an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

10:

• A monoclonal antibody that specifically recognises the N-terminus amino acid sequence PGKNGERGGP(SEQ ID NO:
• 1).

11:

• The monoclonal antibody as claimed in claim 10 [13], wherein the monoclonal antibody specifically binds to the N-terminus amino acid sequence PGKNGERGGP (SEQ ID NO:
• 1) and does not specifically bind to a peptide having the N-terminus amino acid sequence APGKNGERGGP (SEQ ID NO:
• 2).

12:

• The monoclonal antibody as claimed in claim 10, wherein the monoclonal antibody specifically binds to the N-terminus amino acid sequence PGKNGERGGP(SEQ ID NO:
• 1) and does not specifically bind to a peptide having the N-terminus amino acid sequence GKNGERGGP (SEQ ID NO:
• 3).

13:

• The monoclonal antibody as claimed in 10, wherein the monoclonal antibody is raised against a synthetic peptide having the N-terminus amino acid sequence PGKNGERGGP (SEQ ID NO:
• 1).