Recent advances and future prospects for the use of acute phase proteins as markers of disease in animals

Acute phase proteins such as haptoglobin, serum amyloid A and C-reactive pr otein are plasma proteins which increase in concentration following infecti on, inflammation or trauma. Investigations over the last decade have shown that the quantification of their concentration in plasma or serum can provi de valuable diagnostic information in the detection, prognosis and monitori ng of disease. Species differences in the acute phase protein response prof ile mean that each species should be examined individually and that immunoa ssays for the proteins should be carefully validated before use. Acute phas e protein analysis is becoming a common procedure in clinical and experimen tal investigations of infectious disease in farm and companion animals. Ass essment of the concentration of major and moderate acute phase proteins pro vides a means to estimate the combined effect of the proinflammatory cytoki ne stimulation of systemic functions. In the future, measurement of these p roteins could have further applications in the identification of diseased a nimals at slaughter and for monitoring the presence of sub-clinical disease leading to poor growth rates on farms. These applications will be facilita ted by current developments in diagnostic biotechnology. Future prospects f or investigation of the acute phase proteins in companion animals include a ssessment of the affects of the acute phase response on the pharmacokinetic s of veterinary drugs and on association between sub-clinical levels of the proteins and chronic diseases.