Paper I
2023 March (Supplementary) (2010 Scheme) · 40 marks · 120 min

Question

Name two acute inflammatory markers.

Q52 marksShort Notes

Answer

Two acute (phase) inflammatory markers — non-specific blood tests that rise in response to acute inflammation/infection, reflecting the hepatic acute-phase response driven by pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1, TNF-α):

  1. C-reactive protein (CRP) — a hepatic acute-phase protein, rises rapidly (within hours) after the onset of inflammation/infection and falls quickly once the inflammatory stimulus resolves, making it useful for both diagnosis and monitoring of treatment response.
  2. Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) — reflects the rate at which red blood cells settle in anticoagulated blood over one hour, increased indirectly by raised plasma fibrinogen and other acute-phase proteins (which promote rouleaux formation); rises and falls more slowly than CRP, making it more useful for monitoring chronic/subacute inflammatory conditions.

(Other valid examples: procalcitonin, particularly useful in distinguishing bacterial from non-bacterial infection; serum fibrinogen.)

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