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.