Tests for detecting and monitoring the acute phase response.

Tests for detecting and monitoring the acute phase response Children with inflammation due to infection or other tissue damage develop a systemic response which includes fever, a neutrophil leucocytosis, and an increase in concentration of several plasma proteins of hepatic origin. These changes are collect- ively known as the acute phase response and are mediated by cytokines, such as interleukin-1 and tumour necrosis factor, which are synthesised by macrophages that accumulate at the site of tissue damage.' The term acute phase is ill defined but refers to the intensity rather than the duration of the inflammatory response so that a child with chronic disease may also show an increase in acute phase reactants, either intermittently or persistently.