Clinical Applications

l  Early blood biomarker for tissue injury and inflammation

²  Serum amyloid A (SAA) is an early and sensitive blood biomarker for tissue injury and inflammation and has been indicated in many inflammatory diseases.

²  The level of SAA circulating in the blood is known to increase dramatically in response to tissue damage or inflammation, classifying it as an acute phase protein.

²  Circulating SAA concentrations may increase up to 1000-fold following inflammation, infection, tissue injury and cell necrosis and decline rapidly following recovery.

l  Differential diagnosis of bacterial or viral infection

²  The level of SAA consistently higher than 10mg/L but lower than 100mg/L, suggests that viral infection is more likely.

²  The level of SAA consistently higher than 100mg/L highly indicates the acute phase of bacterial infection.

l  Monitoring the progression of infectious diseases

SAA can be used as an independent factor to assess the severity of bacterial, viral and other infectious diseases and inflammation, typically a level greater than 500 mg/L indicates a serious condition.

l  Combination detection of SAA and CRP

The level of SAA elevates in both viral and bacterial infections and is more sensitive to mild inflammatory stimuli than CRP. Therefore,  a combination of  SAA with CRP can provide clinicians with more information.

l  Prognostic evaluation of inflammation

Concentrations of SAA rapidly decrease after resolution of inflammation, making SAA measurement a useful tool for monitoring the course of inflammation in an individual.