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Preanalytic and Analytic Sources of Variations in C-Reactive Protein Measurement

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Cardiac Markers

Part of the book series: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine ((PLM))

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Abstract

In 1930, Tillet and Francis observed a substance in the sera of individuals infected with pneumococcal pneumonia that formed a precipitate when mixed with the C-polysaccharide fraction of Streptococcus pneumoniae (1). They noted that this “C-reactive” activity was absent from the sera of healthy individuals. MacLeod and Avery subsequently characterized this substance as a protein that required calcium ions for its reaction with C-polysaccharide and introduced the term “acute phase” to describe the sera of patients with various acute infections (2). Despite its name, the acute phase response was subsequently identified by Lofstrom to be present in both acute and chronic inflammatory conditions; consequently, C-reactive protein (CRP) became recognized as a nonspecific acute phase protein (3).

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Authors
  1. Thomas B. Ledue
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  2. Nader Rifai
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT, USA

    Alan H. B. Wu PhD

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Ledue, T.B., Rifai, N. (2003). Preanalytic and Analytic Sources of Variations in C-Reactive Protein Measurement. In: Wu, A.H.B. (eds) Cardiac Markers. Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-385-9_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-385-9_19

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-61737-319-0

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