Studies on the effect of experimental inflammation on sialyltransferase in the mouse and guinea pig

The effect of inflammation on sialyltransferase was studied in the mouse and guinea pig. There was a three-fold increase in mouse liver sialyltransferase activity reaching a maximum at 72 hr after inflammation; serum levels were increased by five-fold at 72 hr after inflammation. The response of guinea pig sialyltransferase was slower and of lower magnitude compared with the response of the mouse enzyme; liver and serum sialyltransferase increased by about 50% reaching a maximum at 96 hr after inflammation. The specificity of the enzyme that responded to inflammation in the mouse and guinea pig was found to be Gal beta 1----4GlcNAc alpha 2----6 sialyltransferase, the same enzyme activity that was shown to be an acute phase reactant in earlier studies in the rat (Kaplan et al., 1983).