Luminex enables multiple cytokines to be measured at the same time, whereas ELISA can only measure a single cytokine at a time. Luminex is particularly useful if your biological sample is limiting and one wants to measure as much as possible. Lastly, if you don't know which cytokine(s) might be elevated/reduced in your sample, Luminex enables measurement of a wide variety of pro- or anti-inflammatory cytokines.

Luminex enables multiple cytokines to be measured at the same time, whereas ELISA can only measure a single cytokine at a time. Luminex is particularly useful if your biological sample is limiting and one wants to measure as much as possible. Lastly, if you don't know which cytokine(s) might be elevated/reduced in your sample, Luminex enables measurement of a wide variety of pro- or anti-inflammatory cytokines.

Luminex is faster and more efficient, able to test for multiple substances and find them when ELISA cannot. 

ELISA is the most widely used method for measuring a single cytokine [3] and has become the current “gold standard” in biomedical research and clinical laboratory testing. However, ELISA only measures one analyte at a time from each sample and the assay is time consuming and costly. Furthermore, the dynamic range of ELISA-based assays is narrower than that of other technologies such as multiplex assays. Sample dilution is often required for the assay and consequently creates variations of cytokine level between the neat samples and diluted samples. 

Recent developments in cytokine quantification techniques include the use of multiplex assays to measure large numbers of analytes simultaneously in a small amount of sample. The concept of multiplex bead array assays (MBAA) was first introduced by Horan and Wheeless in 1977. MBAA simultaneously measures multiple analytes in a single run of the assay, provides more information in small volumes of sample, and saves both money and time compared to traditional ELISA. MBAA also detects analytes in a broad dynamic range of concentrations.