1. Definition of Serum Amyloid A
Under certain circumstances like inflammation or infections, cytokines are produced (like IL1 and IL6). The cytokines stimulate the liver to produce the acute phase inflammation protein as SAA, CRP and Haptoglobin.
2. Is SAA correlated with CRP?
The answer is yes. As you may see in the graph of this video, the curve of CRP and the curve of SAA are correlated and have the same kinetic. As a result, in our daily practice, we can just prescribe CRP instead of SAA.
3. When should we dose SAA?
It is recommended to dose SAA in :
Chronic inflammatory diseases,
Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases,
Sarcoidosis,
COVID-19.
Recently, several studies showed that SAA rate is correlated with these variety of diseases especially in COVID-19.
4. Summary : Situation with high rate of SAA
SAA may be elevated in :
Infections
Trauma
Cancer
Inflammatory diseases
But if the patient had a high level of SAA, this does not implicate that the patient has Amyloidosis.
By Rim Bourguiba (Tunisia)
Based upon work from COST Action CA21168, Project CliPS - Working Group"Use of biological drugs for treatment of autoinflammatory diseases".
Supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). www.cost.eu