Inflammatory Markers in Infectious Diseases – an Update

A host of acute phase proteins whose concentrations increase in blood following infection or inflammations are called inflammatory markers. Hundreds of such markers have been identifiedin various infection diseases, but only very few are being measured by clinical laboratories for diagnostic purpose. While established assays for inflammatory markers like hsCRP, Immunoglobins, procalcitonin, TNF-α, α-1 antitrypsin, haptoglobins and some interleukins such as IL-6 are available, studies are underway to make other established inflammatory markers for diagnostic use. This paper brings out an update on many inflammatory markers produced by varieties of pathogens such as viruses and bacteria. The contents of this paper will make awareness among researchers and biomedical scientists to develop assays for better diagnosis/management of varieties of diseases produced by a host of pathogens. .