Guest guest Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 Mark London said: " However, there are lab tests available that can confirm macrophage activation. Macrophage activation is required for TH1 vitamin D production. But this activation also produces a substance called neopterin. Elevated levels are present in many inflammatory and infectious diseases, including sarcoidosis. In sarcoidosis, neopterin levels has been found to be coorelated with the severity of the disease, while ACE levels have not been. The lab test for neopterin is simple and inexpensive. " So, have any of you had this test? - Kate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 > So, have any of you had this test? > > - Kate > I just read a little about it... pubmed search = [neopterin marker]. One paper on Behcets: The results of the serum neopterin levels, ESR and CRP values ESR (mm/h) CRP (g/L) Neopterin (nmol/L) Behçet's disease Active 34.27 ± 19.24 36.06 ± 46.68 8.28 ± 4.31 Inactive 21.53 ± 16.50 8.76 ± 9.17 6.10 ± 1.60 Control 7.2 ± 5.7 4.1 ± 2.3 4.56 ± 0.45 PMID: 16600572 Another paper: http://www.clinchem.org/cgi/content/full/51/10/1902 says Robust ELISAs are available for the assessment of neopterin with excellent agreement reported, particularly between the two most widely used assays (10)(11)(12). Intraassay CVs range from 1.5% to 9.1%, and interassay CVs from 3.0% to 10.8%. Assay detection limits range from 2 nmol/L to 50 nmol/L. In a study of 76 587 blood donors, the mean neopterin concentration was 5.4 nmol/L and the 95th percentile was 8.7 nmol/L. Of importance, 98.4% of the blood donors in the study had neopterin concentrations <10 nmol/L, and there was no sex or age (age range, 17–64 years) dependency regarding neopterin concentrations (13). Regarding TB: Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2005 Sep;9(9):1040-5. The diagnostic values of serum, pleural fluid and urine neopterin measurements in tuberculous pleurisy. [...] Pleural fluid neopterin > or =30 mol/l gave the best diagnostic yield, with 85% sensitivity, 93% specificity, 94% positive predictive value, 84% negative predictive value and 89% diagnostic accuracy, although it is not superior to pleural fluid adenosine deaminase determination. CONCLUSION: We have suggested that elevated serum, pleural fluid and urinary neopterin levels in TP [tuberculous pleurisy] with respect to pleural effusions of non-tuberculous origin may reflect activation of cell-mediated immunity and that pleural fluid neopterin measurement may be of value in the differential diagnosis of TP. PMID: 16158898 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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