Vet. Res. 35 (2004) 163-187
DOI: 10.1051/vetres:2004002

Application of acute phase protein measurements in veterinary clinical chemistry

Henrik Hagbard Petersen^{a, b}, Jens Peter Nielsen^{a, b} and Peter Mikael Helweg Heegaard<sup>c, b

a</sup>  The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (RVAU), Dep. of Clinical Studies, Swine Medicine, Dyrlægevej 88, DK-1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
^b  Research Centre for the Management of Animal Production and Health (CEPROS), PO Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
^c  The Danish Veterinary Institute (DVI), Dep. of Immunology and Biochemistry, Bülowsvej 27, DK-1790 København V, Denmark

(Received 2 May 2003; accepted 18 November 2003)

Abstract - The body's early defence in response to trauma, inflammation or infection, the acute phase response, is a complex set of systemic reactions seen shortly after exposure to a triggering event. One of the many components is an acute phase protein response in which increased hepatic synthesis leads to increased serum concentration of positive acute phase proteins. The serum concentration of these acute phase proteins returns to base levels when the triggering factor is no longer present. This paper provides a review of the acute phase proteins haptoglobin, C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A and their possible use as non-specific indicators of health in large animal veterinary medicine such as in the health status surveillance of pigs at the herd level, for the detection of mastitis in dairy cattle and for the prognosis of respiratory diseases in horses.

Key words: acute phase protein / health surveillance / mastitis / respiratory disease / haptoglobin / C-reactive protein / serum amyloid A

Corresponding author: Henrik Hagbard Petersen hhp@kvl.dk

© INRA, EDP Sciences 2004