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Quantitative Assessment of Immune Cells in the Injured Spinal Cord Tissue by Flow Cytometry: a Novel Use for a Cell Purification Method
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Proteins of the complement system and acute phase reactants in sera of patients with spinal cord injury

J Rebhun1, J G Madorsky, M M Glovsky

  • 1Casa Colina Hospital for Rehabilitative Medicine, Pomona, California.

Annals of Allergy
|April 1, 1991
PubMed

Complement activity was studied in patients with spinal cord transection. In some sera acute phase reactants: haptoglobin, C-reactive proteins, ceruloplasmin, as well as fibrinogen and fibrin degradation products, and immune complexes were monitored. Complement and acute phase reactants are increased in a majority of patients. Continuing inflammation and release of inflammatory mediators could be responsible for poor healing that commonly occurs in spinal cord injury. Urinary tract and other infections are associated with some but not all of the protein abnormalities. These proinflammatory proteins may contribute to the lack of healing of spinal transection.

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