Acute-Phase Proteins and Other Systemic Responses to Inflammation

A large number of changes, distant from the site or sites of inflammation and involving many organ systems, may accompany inflammation. In 1930 interest was focused on these changes by the discovery of C-reactive protein (so named because it reacted with the pneumococcal C-polysaccharide) in the plasma of patients during the acute phase of pneumococcal pneumonia.¹ Accordingly, these systemic changes have since been referred to as the acute-phase response,² even though they accompany both acute and chronic inflammatory disorders. New acute-phase phenomena continue to be recognized, and the mechanisms mediating them are becoming better understood. This review summarizes much of . . .