Elevated levels of circulating pancreatic polypeptide in inflammatory and infectious disorders

Circulating levels of pancreatic polypeptide (PP) were found to be elevated when compared to healthy controls in 54% of patients with chronic inflammatory connective tissue disorders (SLE, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, mixed connective tissue disease and temporal arteritis) and in 96% of patients with acute viral or bacterial infections. Significant positive correlations were obtained between the serum values of PP and those of haptoglobin or orosomucoid. Accompanying successful anti-inflammatory treatment of patients with autoimmune disorders, a reduction of PP levels was observed. The findings suggest that the magnitude of increase in PP was associated with the degree of the inflammatory activity. Raised PP levels may contribute to the alterations in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism observed during active inflammatory diseases in man.