Serum proteins during acute phase

Changes in Serum Proteins during Acute Phase of Disorders of Tissue Injury... 

Reduced production of thyroid hormone-bindhig proteins Circulating inhibitors of thyroid hormone binding Mild elevation of serum TSH during recovery phase Mild depression of serum TSH during acute phase... 

Acute phase reactants (e.g., C-reactive protein) are proteins that increase during inflammation and are deposited in damaged tissues. They were first discovered in the serum, but are now known to be involved in inflammatory processes in the brain (e.g., found in the brain of Alzheimer patients and associated with amyloid plaques). 

The serum concentration of a number of proteins increases dramatically during infection. Their levels can increase by up to 100-fold compared with normal levels. They are known collectively as acute phase proteins and certain of them have been shown to enhance phagocytosis in conjunction with complement. 

Caeruloplasmin (Cp) is the major copper-containing protein of human serum and is an acute phase reactant, being synthesised in increased amounts by the liver in inflammation [27]. Several groups have suggested that the pool of non-Cp-bound copper, capable of catalysing oxidative reactions, was elevated in rheumatoid extracellular fluids [28,29], However, these reports are likely to be artifactual, since Cp readily loses its copper during storage-induced oxidation/proteolysis [30,31]. 

Serum amyloid A (SAA), an acute-phase protein, is not a major protein component of normal HDL. However, during an acute-phase response, the concentration of this protein increases and it specifically associates with HDL (Olphin and Price, 1988). Therefore, it is necessary to understand the properties of this protein from the point of view of the nature of the amphipathic helix present in this protein. SAA associates with... 

Hcpatocytes produce an array of acute phase praieins liable 7-4) that are released into the serum during inflammation or infection. These proteins do not act directly on baclc-ri.t. but they augment the bactericidal activity of other antimicrobial factors. 

There are a number of nonspecific laboratory tests that are useful to support the diagnosis of infection. The inflammatory process initiated by an infection sets up a complex of host responses. Activation of complements, such as C3a and C5a, initiates inflammation and sets off a cascade of changes and the subsequent release of mediators, all of which can be measured and monitored. Serum complement concentrations, particularly C3, usually are consumed as part of the host defense mechanism and subsequently are reduced during the early stages of an acute infectious process. Acute-phase reactants, such as the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and the C-reactive protein concentration, are elevated in the presence of an inflammatory process but do not confirm the presence of infection because they are often elevated in noninfectious conditions, such as collagen-vascular diseases and arthritis. Large elevations in ESR are associated with infections such as endocarditis, osteomyelitis, and intraabdominal infections. ... 

Koc M, Taysi S, Sezen O, Bakan N (2003) Levels of some acute-phase proteins in the serum of patients with cancer during radiotherapy. Biol Pharm Bull 26 1494-1497 Komuro T (2006) Structure and organization of interstitial cells of Cajal in the gastrointestinal tract. J Physiol 576 653-658... 

William S. Tillett (1930) discovered that C-Reactive Protein (CRP) is an acute-phase serum protein that reacts with the C polysaccharide of Pneumococcal cell wall. CRP is present in human serum and its level increases during systemic inflammation. Therefore, CRP represents a sensitive marker of systemic inflammation and tissue damage precise determination of CRP levels has proven to be useful in the screening of various diseases, monitoring treatment response, and detection of concomitant infectionsi). 

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