[Proteins of the inflammatory reaction. Definition, physiology and methods for determination]

An inflammatory reaction protein is a protein whose rate of synthesis is greater than its rate of catabolism in the presence of an inflammatory process. This is reflected by an increase in its plasma concentration. In man, orosomucoid, alpha-1 antitrypsin, alpha-1 anti-chymotrypsin, haptoglobin, ceruloplasmin, fibrinogen and C reactive protein (CRP), all conform to this definition. The authors present the principal physicochemical properties of the proteins. However, none of these proteins, on its own, constitutes an ideal marker of inflammation. The authors also propose the use of an inflammatory miniprofile consisting of "CRP, orosomucoid and haptoglobin" to detect, quantify and follow an inflammatory reaction. The authors stress the importance of using a rapid assay technique like immunonephelemetry , which is essential for the clinical usefulness of these proteins. Finally, they discuss the process of synthesis and the biological role of these proteins.