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Elephants

Acute Phase Protein Laboratory

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The Acute Phase Protein Laboratory has led research in elephant acute phase proteins for many years. Serum amyloid A (SAA) has been demonstrated to be a major acute phase protein in this species.

SAA has been found to increase with EEHV viremia and a variety of other inflammatory stimuli including bacterial infection, pododermatitis, and trauma. Haptoglobin (HP) has also been identified as a minor acute phase protein in this species and has value in monitoring chronic conditions. Protein electrophoresis can also be used for a valid quantitation of albumin, a major negative acute phase protein.

Prognostic value as well as the important use in health assessments has been well demonstrated for SAA levels in elephants as part of monitoring for response to EEHV treatment as well as in EEHV screening. SAA was found to increase concurrently with increasing levels of viral RNA in the blood.

References

J. Stanton, C. Cray, M. Dickey, M. Rodriguez, K. Arheart, P. Ling, and A. Herron. Acute phase protein expression during elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus-1 viremia in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). Journal of Zoo Wildlife and Medicine, 44(3):605-612, 2013.

R. Isaza, E. Wiedner, S. Hiser, and C. Cray. Reference intervals for acute phase protein and serum protein electrophoresis values in captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation, 26(5):616-621, 2014.