Acute-phase responses in healthy and diseased rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Five acute-phase reactants-serum amyloid A (SAA), C-reactive protein (CRP), haptoglobin, albumin, and iron-were measured using commercially available assays in 110 healthy rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), and reference intervals were established for future use in health monitoring of this species. Reference intervals established were as follows: SAA, 29.5-87.7 mg/L; CRP, 0-17.5 mg/L; haptoglobin, 354.3-2,414.7 mg/ L; albumin, 36.1-53.0 g/L; and iron, 13.3-40.2 micromol/L. Furthermore, changes in the acute-phase reactants were studied in two additional groups of animals: eight rhesus macaques suffering from acute traumatic injuries and nine rhesus macaques experimentally infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis reflecting a chronic active inflammation. In animals with inflammation, SAA and haptoglobin concentrations were moderately increased, while CRP increased more than 200-fold. In addition, marked decreases in albumin and iron concentrations were observed. These results show that SAA, CRP, and haptoglobin are positive acute-phase proteins, whereas albumin and iron are negative acute-phase reactants in rhesus macaques.