Canadian Medical Guide > Chemicals and Drugs > Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins > Proteins > Blood Proteins > Acute-Phase Proteins Terms and Definitions

Acute-Phase Proteins

Medical Definition:	Proteins that are secreted into the blood in increased or decreased quantities by hepatocytes in response to trauma, inflammation, or disease. These proteins can serve as inhibitors or mediators of the inflammatory processes. Certain acute-phase proteins have been used to diagnose and follow the course of diseases or as tumor markers.
Guide Notes:	blood proteins; /biosyn /drug eff /physiol permitted
Also Called:	Acute-Phase Glycoproteins
Previously Indexed:	Blood Proteins (1966-1986),C-Reactive Protein (1966-1986),Glycoproteins (1966-1986)

Acute-Phase Proteins Categories.

	alpha 1-Antichymotrypsin - Glycoprotein found in alpha(1)-globulin region in human serum. It inhibits chymotrypsin-like proteinases in vivo and has cytotoxic killer-cell activity in vitro. The protein also has a role as an acute-phase protein and is active in the control of immunologic and inflammatory processes, and as a tumor marker. It is a member of the serpin superfamily.
	alpha 1-Antitrypsin - Plasma glycoprotein member of the serpin superfamily which inhibits trypsin, neutrophil elastase, and other proteolytic enzymes. Commonly referred to as alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor (A1PI), it exists in over 30 different biochemical variant forms known collectively as the Pi (protease inhibitor) system. Hereditary A1PI deficiency is associated with pulmonary emphysema.
	alpha-Macroglobulins - Glycoproteins with a molecular weight of approximately 620,000 to 680,000. Precipitation by electrophoresis is in the alpha region. They include alpha 1-macroglobulins and alpha 2-macroglobulins. These proteins exhibit trypsin-, chymotrypsin-, thrombin-, and plasmin-binding activity and function as hormonal transporters.
	Amyloid P Component - Amyloid P component is a small, non-fibrillar glycoprotein found in normal serum and in all amyloid deposits. It has a pentagonal (pentaxin) structure. It acts as an acute phase protein in the mouse, modulates immunologic responses in man, inhibits elastase, and has been suggested as an indicator of liver disease.
	Amyloid Protein AA - A nonimmunoglobulin amyloid isolated from amyloid fibrils deposited in amyloidosis secondary to chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Antisera to amyloid protein AA have been used to detect a related serum protein SAA.
	Complement 3 - The fourth component to attach in the complement reaction sequence. It is a beta-globulin with a sedimentation coefficient of 5.5, a molecular weight of 185,000 and a serum concentration of 1.3 micrograms/ml. Its fragments have anaphylatoxic, chemotactic, and histaminic action and affect smooth muscle.
	Fibrinogen - Plasma glycoprotein clotted by thrombin, composed of a dimer of three non-identical pairs of polypeptide chains (alpha, beta, gamma) held together by disulfide bonds. Fibrinogen clotting is a sol-gel change involving complex molecular arrangements: whereas fibrinogen is cleaved by thrombin to form polypeptides A and B, the proteolytic action of other enzymes yields different fibrinogen degradation products.
	Haptoglobins - Plasma glycoproteins that form a stable complex with hemoglobin to aid the recycling of heme iron. They are encoded in man by a gene on the short arm of chromosome 16.
	Hemopexin
	Orosomucoid
	Transferrin - Serum beta-globulin that binds and transports iron. (From Dorland, 28th ed)
	Trypsin Inhibitor, Kazal Pancreatic - A pancreatic trypsin inhibitor common to all mammals. It is secreted with the zymogens into the pancreatic juice. It is a protein composed of 56 amino acid residues and is different in amino acid composition and physiological activity from the Kunitz bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (APROTININ).

Acute-Phase Proteins Medical Definitions and Terms

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