PROSTATE-SPECIFIC ANTIGEN CONCENTRATIONS IN SERUM IN ACUTE ILLNESSES

In light of recent studies showing that prostate-specific antigen (PSA ) complexes with certain blood proteins, we studied the effects of acu te-phase reactants and alpha(2)-macroglobulin (A2MG) on serum concentr ations of PSA. Serum samples were obtained from 419 men admitted to an acute-care facility. Various acute-phase reactants-including C-reacti ve protein, alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein, alpha(1)-antitrypsin, and alph a(1)-antichymotrypsin-and A2MG were measured with a Beckman Array(R) a nalyzer in parallel with determinations of PSA concentrations by two m ethods, the Hybritech Tandem(R) RIA. and the Abbott PSG IMx(R). Evalua tion by Spearman rank correlation revealed a significant negative corr elation of A2MG with PSA values (P <0.01) and (as expected) a positive correlation of age with PSA values (P <0.001). The former correlation suggests the possibility that patients with high serum concentrations of A2MG may give falsely decreased results for PSA concentrations in serum.