Acute-phase response in early XXXX : long-term follow-up study.

@entity1 @entity8698 @entity8693 @entity309
In order to investigate the role of the acute-phase response in early @entity309 ( @entity309 ), we followed the changes of alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), alpha @entity8693 ( @entity8693 ) and @entity8698 (ACT) in the sera of 25 @entity1 with @entity309 ( @entity309 ) during the first 3 years of the disease. Serum levels of AGP, ACT and @entity8693 were measured using rocket immunoelectrophoresis, and AGP, ACT and @entity8693 microheterogeneities were performed using two-dimensional immunoelectrophoresis with concanavalin A (Con A) as ligand. On average, serum levels of AGP, ACT and @entity8693 proteins were higher at the onset of the disease as compared with healthy controls. After 3 years, a significant decrease in serum levels of all three acute-phase proteins (APPs) was observed, but only in @entity1 without anatomical progression was this decrease statistically significant. At the beginning of the study, only the @entity8693 reactivity coefficient (RC) was decreased in comparison with healthy subjects. However, after 3 years of disease, AGP, ACT and @entity8693 RCs all decreased. This investigation provided two new observations. The first is that only @entity8693 RC is significantly lower in comparison with normal values at the beginning of @entity309 , whereas AGP RC and ACT RC remain within the normal range of values; a decrease in AGP RC and ACT RC appeared later. The second observation is that the highly elevated levels of APPs at the onset of @entity309 decrease during the course of the disease. Moreover, this decrease does not depend on the disease activity, but a relationship with radiological progression was shown.
