Clinical Significance of Some Acute Phase Proteins in Cattle

Abstract

Acute phase proteins are proteins synthesized by the liver in response to the acute phase response. While these proteins are insignificant in healthy animals, their concentrations increase rapidly during infection, inflammation, or tissue damage and are used as an indicator of inflammation. Since the blood concentrations and importance levels of these clinically important proteins differ according to the animal species, they are evaluated separately for each animal species. Most of the acute phase proteins have been studied in detail in the field of human medicine and are routinely used in the diagnosis and prognosis of diseases. In the field of veterinary medicine, it has not been used sufficiently. In this book chapter, we will provide up-to-date information about acute phase proteins that are important for cattle, as well as explain that acute phase proteins can be used in the early diagnosis of diseases, in the differentiation of viral and bacterial infections, in guiding the treatment of sick animals and in determining their prognosis.