Changes in plasma protein-bound carbohydrates and glycoprotein patterns during infection, inflammation and starvation.

Abstract

SummaryLocalized inflammation and acute systemic infection in the rat produced similar alterations in plasma protein-bound carbohydrates and glycoproteins, characterized by: (a) increased total plasma protein-bound carbohydrates, including protein-bound hexose, hexosamine and sialic acid; (b) increased α1, α2 and β glycoglobulin fractions. Moreover, these changes occur despite severe starvation; therefore, they appear to be independent of nutritional intake. Similar changes were produced when an extract from stimulated leukocytes was administered to normal rats. This suggests that changes in protein-bound carbohydrates and glycoproteins during inflammation and infection may have been mediated by an endogenous humoral factor(s).