Role of clinical data in NST: from the viewpoint of the clinical laboratory

Serum albumin (Alb) sampling is used for patients who object to screening by NST. As Alb is decreased by malnutrition, it is available for nutritional assessment, reflecting the long-term nutritive condition. Recently, Alb was correlated with nutritional assessment proteins with RTP, like RBP, TTR and Tf. We recently set up a screening line of Alb < or =3.0g/dl; however, we will gradually elevate it to < or =3.5g/dl. The role of the medical technologist is to estimate the number of patients with < or =3.5g/dl, and investigate correlations between the Alb concentration and other markers, including ChE, TTR, TP and CRP.     

Development of blood examination method of serum amyloid A and LDL complex, and clinical application to prediction of cardiovascular event

In recent years, it has been reported that the acute-phase proteins C-reactive protein(CRP) and serum amyloid A(SAA), the sera levels of which are elevated in inflammation, are also elevated in coronary artery disease such as acute myocardial infarction. Also, high-sensitivity CRP assay is thought to be useful in predicting the prognosis of coronary heart disease. While investigating complexes of acute-phase proteins and low-density lipoprotein(LDL), we found a complex of LDL and SAA(SAA/LDL complex). The SAA/LDL complex in blood are formed from LDL and HDL by an oxidation reaction. Therefore, we developed an ELISA using anti-human SAA antibody and anti-human apoB, and determined a new method for measuring SAA/LDL complex in sera. We evaluated SAA/LDL complex as a new marker for prediction of prognosis in addition to the ordinary markers in consecutive 140 patients with stable coronary heart disease who had at least 1 coronary artery stenosis more than 50% in diameter at the diagnostic coronary angiography. Of these 140 patients, 2 developed fatal myocardial infarction, 2 cerebral infarction, and 17 angina pectoris requiring coronary revascularization therapy during 1 year and 6 months after blood examinations. The SAA/LDL complex value in this EVENT group of 21 patients was significantly higher than that in the control group of 119 individuals. High-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) assay and SAA measurement showed no significant difference between the 2 groups. The SAA/LDL complex reflects intravascular inflammation directly and can be a new marker more sensitive than hs-CRP or SAA for prediction of prognosis in patients with stable coronary artery disease.     

序贯性早期肠内营养在中度重症急性胰腺炎患者治疗中的作用

目的 研究对中度重症急性胰腺炎（MSAP）患者应用序贯性早期肠内营养（SEEN）支持疗法的临床疗效。方法 将2018年5月~2019年7月在安徽医科大学附属安庆医院普外科住院的67例符合条件的患者随机分为序贯性早期肠内营养组33例（A组）和早期肠内营养组34例（B组）。A组给予序贯性早期肠内营养支持,B组给予早期肠内营养支持。比较两组前白蛋白（PAB）、白蛋白（ALB）、淋巴细胞（CD3+、CD4+）、降钙素原（PCT）、白细胞（WBC）、C反应蛋白（CRP）、肿瘤坏死因子α（TNF-α）、白介素6（IL-6）、胃肠道不耐受情况及住院天数。结果 入院第1天,两组PAB、ALB、CD3+、CD4+、PCT、WBC、CRP、TNF-α、IL-6比较,差异无统计学意义（P＞0.05）;第3天,A组PCT、WBC、CRP、TNF-α、IL-6均低于B组,而CD3+、CD4+、PAB、ALB均高于B组,但差异无统计学意义（P＞0.05）;第7、11天,A组PCT、WBC、CRP、TNF-α、IL-6均低于B组,而CD3+、CD4+、PAB、ALB均高于B组（P＜0.05）;A组患者胃肠道不耐受发生率及住院天数均少于B组（P＜0.05）。结论 对MSAP患者行序贯性早期肠内营养支持治疗较早期肠内营养支持更有助于降低胃肠道不耐受的发生率,促进蛋白质合成,改善全身炎症反应和免疫功能低下状态,减少住院的天数。     

Nutrition assessment protein

Nutrition status must be estimated during a patient's hospitalization. Body weight, hemoglobin or serum albumin are used to estimate nutrition status, but they can not reflect the present nutrition status. Recently, rapid turnover protein(RTP) has been proposed as a nutrition assessment protein, reflecting real-time nutrition status. The halves in the serum of retinal-binding protein(RBP) and transthyretin (TTR) are 0.5 and 2 days, respectively. Their physiological variations, such as intra-individual, diet, and athletics, are within 10%, so they are suitable for monitoring present nutrition status. Because they are negative acute-phase reactants, we have to measure CRP as a marker for the acute-phase reaction. Measuring RBP and TTR as monitoring markers reveals the accurate, real-time nutrition status of the patient. Providing accurate information for a patient's nutrition situation will support cure and early discharge, and reduce medical costs.     

40例急性胰腺炎患者血清淀粉样蛋白A及炎症因子的变化

目的 :观察血清SAA、CRP、IL - 6、IL - 8及SIL - 2R在急性胰腺炎病程中的变化 ,探讨SAA在急性胰腺炎发生发展中的辅助诊断及疾病严重度评价的实用价值。方法 :SAA、CRP定量检测 :采用乳胶增强速率散射比浊法。IL - 6、IL - 8、SIL - 2R水平采用ABC -ELISA法检测。结果 :急性重症胰腺炎患者五项指标显著高于急性轻症胰腺炎及正常对照组 (p <0 0 1 )。同时血清SAA水平与CRP、IL - 6、IL - 8水平呈显著相关 (p <0 0 1 )。急性轻症胰腺炎组SAA、CRP、IL - 6水平高于正常对照组 (p <0 0 5 )。 结论 :联合检测血清SAA、CRP、IL - 6、IL - 8水平对判断急性重症胰腺炎的严重程度及提示急性胰腺炎坏死性形成具有重要参考价值。在急性胰腺炎的病程中SAA的检测价值优于CRP。     

Participation of the clinical laboratory in the nutrition support team

Recently, organization of the nutrition support team (NST) is progressing steadily in many hospitals in Japan. In our Yamagata University Hospital, NST services were started in March, 2004. As is well known, NST is a multidisciplinary team comprised of physicians, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, social workers and medical technologists. Here, we report the participation of medical technologists and physicians belonging to our Clinical laboratory in NST activities. From our laboratory, two medical technologists and two physicians participate in the NST and provide the following services. Firstly, nutritional assessment of proteins in serum i.e. albumin, retinol binding protein (RBP) and transthyretin (TTR) is carried out, measured as part of routine work, and, especially, the data of RBP and TTR are applied to the assessment of nutrition status around the digestive surgical operations. They are also useful to assess the effect of dietary meal, immunonutrition "Impact", which improves the malnutrition status of the pre operative patient. Secondly, a weekly "malnutrition report", including numbers of patients with malnutrition in every ward, serial graphs, and detailed comments on their movements, is reported by e-mail to NST associated departments. This report is conveniently indicates the nutritional situation of inpatients in the hospital and aids consideration of countermeasures for malnutrition in the NST meeting. Thirdly, we medical technologists also participate in making rounds, where we state our opinions on a patient's data, and, if necessary, propose to the chief physician to request additional laboratory tests. We believe that these current activities of our laboratory as part of the NST will contribute to the development of our University NST, raising the quality of nutrition support services, and resulting in improvements of malnutrition and the quality of life of patients.     

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) assay--a novel method for assessment of risk ratios for atherosclerotic vascular diseases

CRP has long been used as a sensitive marker for infectious diseases. Since its serum concentration elevates more than 10 mg/dl with gram-negative bacterial infections, the sensitivity can be enough to be around 0.3-0.6 mg/dl for the diagnosis. However, the sensitivity should be higher in the early diagnosis of infections in new-borne babies. In addition, recently, it was suggested that atherosclerotic lesions are a kind of vasculitis, and the information could be transmitted via production of inflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins. In fact, serum CRP and serum amyloid protein A(SAA) levels are elevated even in patients with coronary atherosclerosis without acute coronary syndrome(ACS). However, the level was much lower than the cut-off for diagnosis of bacterial infection. Therefore, the high-sensitive assay method has been applied. As the result, high-sensitivity(hs) CRP assay was found to be one of the most sensitive markers for prediction of future ACS in USA. Combination of hsCRP and atherogenic index such as total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol or LDL cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio is more useful. Similarly, it was found that hsCRP could predict the future prevalence of ACS even in Japan. It may be true because production of CRP is independent upon the genetic backgrounds. Early prevention of ACS by the measurement of hsCRP is calculated to be economic even if we measured hsCRF often in subjects without symptoms, because medical cost for treatment of acute myocardial infarction is enormous. In patients with high risk for coronary heart diseases, hsCRP-guided therapy is possible by using aspirin, stains, and antibiotics for prevention of ACS.     

Inflammatory reaction and laboratory tests: serum amyloid A (SAA) protein

Serum amyloid A protein (SAA) is a sensitive acute phase reactant. Here, the assay of SAA in serum and its clinical significance are reviewed. SAA was measured simply by radial immunodiffusion and enzyme immunoassay with rabbit anti-amyloid A antibodies, however further investigation is necessary because SAA is an insoluble apolipoprotein. The concentration of SAA was 1.5-3.0 folds higher at physiological states, and 3.0-10.0 folds higher at inflammatory states than that of C-reactive protein (CRP). Therefore, SAA might be a sensitive and useful method for full observation of diseases. At the acute phase such as myocardial infarction, SAA changed at the same time as CRP. Most inflammatory disorders, for example, rheumatoid arthritis and malignant tumors which show elevation of CRP, showed elevation of SAA. These two proteins were strongly correlated, but showed no disease specificity. Also at secondary amyloidosis which was caused by deposition of SAA fragments, the level of SAA did not indicate the presence of amyloid. Only at the time of kidney allograft rejection for a recipient, was SAA elevated markedly in comparison with CRP. Recently, we developed a method of quantitative analysis of SAA isotypes and applied it in a few cases. Although significant features for diseases have not been obtained yet, such analysis might become useful for the physiological and pathological understanding of SAA.     

Acute phase response of serum amyloid A protein and C reactive protein to the common cold and influenza.

C reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A protein (SAA) are sensitive and rapid acute phase reactants, and their measurement for monitoring inflammatory disease and assessing the prognosis in secondary amyloidosis is gaining widespread acceptance. The changes in these proteins in eight subjects suffering from natural colds, 15 subjects with experimentally induced colds (rhinoviruses E1, 3, 9, 14, or 31), and eight with experimentally induced influenza (A/Eng/40/83) were studied. SAA concentration increased in 21 of the 23 subjects with natural or experimental rhinovirus colds (mean increase 95 mg/l); CRP concentration increased in 11 (mean increase 11 mg/l). All subjects with influenza showed pronounced increases in SAA concentrations (mean increase 642 mg/l) while six showed increases in CRP concentration (mean increase 22 mg/l). All these increases were highly significant (p less than 0.001). Asymptomatic excretors of both rhinovirus and influenza virus showed significant increases in SAA concentration (p = 0.015 for rhinovirus and p less than 0.001 for influenza virus) but not in CRP concentration. No changes in SAA or CRP values were seen in 12 volunteers after challenge with saline. These observations suggest that caution is required in the interpretation of estimations of SAA concentration and that it may be too sensitive an acute phase protein for clinical use as its concentration may be raised in both trivial and asymptomatic viral infections.     

Serum amyloid A levels in patients with hemophagocytic syndrome]

Concentrations of serum amyloid A protein (SAA) were measured in patients with hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS). There was a significant correlation between SAA and ferritin (p = 0.0003), while there was no significant correlation between C-reactive protein (CRP) and ferritin. These results indicate that SAA could be a useful clinical marker for activity of HPS.     

Serum amyloid A protein concentration in bone marrow transplantation for beta thalassaemia.

AIMS: To investigate whether serum amyloid A protein (SAA) and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations could be used in the management of beta thalassaemic patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation (BMT). METHODS: Serum SAA and CRP concentrations were determined in paired samples from 66 patients with beta thalassaemia before and after BMT. Serum SAA concentrations were determined by an enzyme linked immunoassay (EIA); serum CRP concentrations were determined by a nephelometric assay. RESULTS: Serum SAA concentrations before transplantation were significantly higher in the group that subsequently rejected the transplant than the group without complications. SAA concentrations increased after BMT in acute graft versus host disease (GvHD) and rejection. No significant increase in SAA or CRP was found in chronic GvHD. Increases in serum in SAA and CRP concentrations were not related to concomitant infection episodes. CONCLUSIONS: The different acute phase response in acute GvHD and rejection compared with chronic GvHD suggests that different immunopathogenic mechanisms are responsible.     

Acute phase proteins as markers of inflammatory lesions

Acute phase proteins are liver-derived serum proteins, the concentration of which alters in response to infection or inflammation. Cytokines such as interleukin-6, interleukin-1 and tumour necrosis factor- stimulate the liver to produce haptoglobin (Hp), serum amyloid A (SAA), C-reactive protein (CRP), ₁-acid glycoprotein (AGP) and fibrinogen (Fb) but limit the production of negative acute phase proteins such as albumin. There are interspecies variations in the pattern of response of the acute phase proteins but they are valuable as markers of inflammatory lesions providing diagnostic information for veterinary medicine.Advances have been made in the study of acute phase protein in pigs, dogs and cattle. In the pig, it is evident that CRP is a major reactant whereas Hp is a moderate acute phase reactant. The use of CRP for the diagnosis of inflammatory disease in dogs has been confirmed with studies relating the canine serum CRP concentration to haematological determination of inflammation. CRP assay in canine serum has been shown to confirm primary infectious or inflammatory conditions but can also detect secondary conditions where the primary condition is non-inflammatory. In cattle, the use of Hp assay is now established as a major aid to the diagnosis of infectious and inflammatory disease. Additional benefit to the diagnosis of disease can be provided by analysis of a profile of acute phase proteins such as a combined analysis of SAA, Hp and AGP. The circulating concentration of AGP is maintained at an increased level for a more extended period than that of SAA or Hp in chronic inflammatory conditions.A major advance would be made in the analysis of animal acute phase protein if internationally recognised standards of the proteins in each species were to become available.Originally presented at ECCP 95.     

Optimized combination of circulating biomarkers as predictors of prognosis in AECOPD patients complicated with Heart Failure

Background: Systematic inflammation, nutritional status, and cardiovascular function have been associated with the outcomes of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) patients with heart failure (HF). However, the value of their relevant biomarkers in predicting mortality has not been well defined yet. We aimed to investigate the prognostic value of circulating biomarkers including C-reaction protein (CRP)/albumin (ALB), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) for AECOPD patients with HF.Methods: A retrospective study was carried out in the Second Clinical College of Jinan University from January 1, 2013 to January 31, 2019. A total of 146 cases of AECOPD complicated with HF were enrolled and classified into survivor group (n=94) and non-survivor group (n=52). The baseline characteristics, CRP/ALB ratio, NLR, PLR, serum levels of NT-proBNP, and other indicators were collected. The predictors for prognosis were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression, and the ability to predict 28-day mortality was evaluated by receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) and the area under the curve (AUC).Results: The patients in non-survivors had significantly higher levels of CRP, CRP/ALB, NLR, PCT and NT-proBNP, but lower ALB levels compared to the survivors [111.7 (56.9, 186.5) VS. 43.8 (10.3, 96.1) mg/L, 4.6 (2.0, 8.0) VS. 1.4 (0.3, 3.4), 22.2 (11.1, 40.1) VS. 12.0 (6.2, 24.8), 2.6 (0.2, 10.3) VS. 0.08 (0.1, 0.5) ng/ml, 17912.5 (9344.0, 34344.5) VS. 9809.0 (4415.9, 16387.2) ng/ml, 25.8 (23.2, 30.5) VS. 30.7 (27.9, 34.1) g/L; P < 0.001, <0.001, 0.001, <0.001, <0.001, and < 0.001, respectively]. No significant difference in PLR was found between the two groups (P=0.413). The logistic analysis revealed that CRP/ALB (OR=1.303, 95%CI: 1.145-1.483, P<0.001), NT-proBNP (OR=1.041, 95%CI: 1.010-1.073, P=0.009) and NLR (OR=1.010, 95%CI: 0.999-1.022, P<0.001) are independent risk factors for predicting the 28-day mortality. The AUC of the ROC curves were 0.768, 0.767, 0.757, 0.723, 0.716, and 0.668 for CRP/ALB, PCT, CRP, NT-proBNP, ALB, and NLR, respectively. The combination of CRP/ALB, NLR and NT-proBNP as biomarkers was shown to have better accuracy for predicting prognosis (AUC=0.830, 95%CI: 0.761-0.899, P<0.001), with a higher specificity of 80.8% and specificity of 77.7% as compared with each single biomarkers.Conclusions: High levels of NLR, CRP/ALB and NT-proBNP may be clinical usefully predictors for death in AECOPD patients with HF. Combination of NLR with CRP/ALB and NT-proBNP can provide a higher accuracy for predicting 28-day mortality in these patients.     

C-反应蛋白、血清淀粉样蛋白A和YKL-40在小儿复发性肺炎中的联合检测作用

目的 探讨C-反应蛋白(C-reactive protein,CRP)、血清淀粉样蛋白A(serum amyloid A,SAA)和人软骨糖蛋白39(human cartilage glycoprotein 39,YKL-40)在小儿复发性肺炎中的表达及联合检测作用.方法 选取2016年5月至2017年4月本院收治的小儿复发性肺炎患儿50例为观察一组,本院收治的首次肺炎发作患儿50例为观察二组,和同期体检健康儿50例为对照组.收集受试儿血清并检测血清中CRP、SAA和YKL-40水平.结果 与对照组相比,观察一组和观察二组患儿血清CRP、SAA和YKL-40显著升高;经常规治疗后,观察一组和观察二组患儿血清CRP、SAA和YKL-40水平显著降低,差异具有统计学意义(P＜0.05).患儿血清CRP、SAA和YKL-40联合检出率显著高于各指标单独检出率.结论 CRP、SAA和YKL-40在小儿复发性肺炎患儿血清中呈过表达状态,且CRP、SAA和YKL-40联合检测及实时监测对于诊断重症肺炎具有重要的临床意义.     

Assay for determination of the serum procalcitonin level: biochemical and clinical evaluation

In patients with inflammatory conditions such as infection, cytokines induce the production of C-reactive protein(CRP) and serum amyloid A protein(SAA) in hepatic cells. It has been reported that upon viral infection, the serum SAA level increases by a greater degree than the serum CRP level. Procalcitonin (PCT), the precursor of calcitonin, is a new type of inflammatory marker that is specifically induced by bacterial infection, sepsis and lethal multiple organ failure, but not by viral infection, autoimmune diseases, tumors or surgical stress. To evaluate the immunoluminometric assay(LUMI test PCT; Brahms Diagnostics, Berlin, Germany) procedure for determining the PCT level and to study the clinical significance of the serum PCT level, we determined the serum levels of PCT, CRP and SAA in patients with various inflammatory diseases and normal subjects. The serum PCT level in the normal subjects was < 0.3 ng/ml. Among the patients with inflammatory disease who had a high CRP level(CRP > 20000 micrograms/dl), the PCT level was elevated only in those patients with severe bacterial infection. These results suggest that determining the PCT level may be useful in the differential diagnosis of severe bacterial infection. The patients who had a low CRP level(CRP < 150 micrograms/dl), had a PCT level within the normal range. The patients with autoimmune disease, viral infection, and fungal infection did not have an elevated PCT level.     

C-reactive protein is not only an inflammatory marker but also a direct cause of cardiovascular diseases

Inflammatory processes play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and mediate many of the stages of atheroma development from initial leukocyte recruitment to eventual rupture of the unstable atherosclerotic plaque. C-reactive protein (CRP), an acute phase reactant that reflects different degree of inflammation, has been indicated an independent risk factor in a variety of cardiovascular disease (CVD), especially in unstable coronary syndrome. Our data have showed that increased level of CRP in patients with unstable angina was associated with short-term clinical outcomes, response for conventional therapy, and activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB), but it is not correlated to coronary artery stenosis as well as lipid profile. Traditionally, CRP has been thought of as a bystander marker of vascular inflammation, without playing a direct role in the CVD. More recently, accumulating evidence suggest that CRP may have direct proinflammatory effects, which is associated with all stages of atherosclerosis. In our recent study, the results demonstrate that monocytes exhibit an enhanced production of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in response to CRP, and this response is significantly inhibited by simvastatin in a dose-dependent manner. This may be of important interest in the connection between CVD and CRP. Based on those evidence, we hypothesis that CRP is not only an inflammatory marker but also a direct cause of CVD, and treatments that reduce CRP should be benefit for primary and secondary prevention of CVD. Administration of several agents, especially statin has been showed to modify CRP concentrations with a concurrent fall in cardiovascular events. Our clinical investigation suggested that treatment with a single high-dose or a short-term common dose of simvastatin could rapidly reduce CRP level. Those data indicated that the benefit to the vascular endothelium might occur quickly in patients with CVD, which is critical issue for high-risk subgroup. Other interventions, such as lifestyle changes, weight loss, and stop smoking are also warrant attention.     

Serum amyloid a circulating levels and disease activity in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

The aim of our study was to evaluate the association between circulating levels of serum amyloid A protein (SAA) and disease activity in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Our study group included 41 JIA patients (9 male, 32 female), classified according to the International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR) criteria (5); 16 had polyarticular onset disease and 25 had oligoarticular onset disease. Among 25 patients with oligoarticular disease, three had extended oligoarthritis. Serum amyloid A (SAA), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured in both patients and 26 healthy controls. SAA levels were higher in JIA patients versus healthy controls (p<0.001). Significant positive correlations were found between SAA and the presence of active joints (rho=0.363, p<0.05), the number of active joints (rho=0.418, p<0.05), ESR (R=0.702, p<0.05) and CRP (R=0.827, p<0.05). No significant correlations between ESR and the presence of active joints (rho=0.221, p=0.225) or between ESR and the number of active joints (rho=0.118, p=0.520) were demonstrated in JIA patients. No significant correlations were obtained between CRP and the presence of active joints (rho=0.034, p=0.855) or between CRP and the number of active joints (rho=0.033, p=0.859). We discovered a significant increase in SAA levels in JIA patients, compared to controls, and a strong positive correlation between SAA level and JIA disease activity. We also discerned SAA to be a more sensitive laboratory marker than ESR and CRP for evaluating the presence and number of active joints. We suggest that SAA can be used as an additional indicator of disease activity in JIA.     

Cystatin-C and creatinine as indices of glomerular filtration rate in the immediate follow-up of renal transplant patients

Serum cystatin-C (cys-C), creatinine (Cr), C-reactive protein (CRP) and amyloid A have been shown to provide useful information for renal function following transplantation. In this study, we wanted to evaluate the impact of these parameters as markers of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) on the third and seventh days of the post-transplantation period. Cys-C was determined by the particle-enhanced immunoturbidimetric assay, and serum amyloid A (SAA) by the sandwich-enzyme immunoassay kit. Cr and CRP concentrations were measured by the Cobas Integra 400 autoanalyser. The patients (n=35) were followed with daily repetitive measurements of serum Cr and urine output per hour, and with Doppler ultrasonography against the risk of rejection. Statistical evaluations were made using the ANOVA and Pearson's test. Serum cys-C and Cr levels on both the 3rd and 7th days after transplantation were lower than those of pretransplantation values (P<0.001). The Cr/cys-C ratio was decreased on the 3rd day of the post-transplantation period, and kept declining on the 7th day. This ratio was high only in the patient with an acute rejection episode. None of the patients with high pretransplant CRP levels had a rejection episode during a six-month follow-up. SAA concentrations were found to be higher than the pretransplant values in the early post-transplant period. Cys-C had good sensitivity to estimate the renal function in the very early period of transplantation, but its value as a marker of GFR was decreased at the end of first week. As none of the 34 patients had a rejection episode, the observed rise in SAA and CRP levels is not specific to rejection.     

Serum amyloid A in autoimmune thrombosis

The objectives of this study were (1) to determine how levels of serum amyloid A (SAA), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) correlate to autoimmune diseases in patients with or without thrombosis, and (2) to discuss the parameters that influence the relative SAA values. SAA, CRP and IL-6 concentrations were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). 84 patients with secondary antiphospholipid syndrome (SAPS), primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPS), systemic lupus erythematosus with antiphospholipid antibodies (SLE+aPL), SLE, venous thrombosis (VT), arterial thrombosis (AT) were compared to healthy donors (n=60). The percentages of patients above cut-off were highest in the SAPS, SLE and SLE+aPL groups. Significant differences were observed between healthy donors and inflammatory groups of patients (SAPS and SLE+aPL) in all three measured parameters. SAA and CRP were shown to be correlated to a greater extent in SAPS patients than SLE+aPL patients. In summary, this cross-sectional, retrospective, small study and accompanying clinical considerations limit the ability to make definite conclusions. SAA would not serve as a useful marker for venous, arterial thrombosis or PAPS (pro-coagulant events). It could however, be a good predictor of progression from a non-inflammatory thrombotic condition to an inflammatory one.