Serum proteins in human trichinosis

Abstract

Of 200 patients suffering from trichinosis, the course of the disease was mild in one hundred, moderate in sixty-six and severe in thirty-four. The following laboratory tests were performed serially: serum total protein and its electrophoretic pattern, thymol turbidity, serum pseudocholinesterase activity and serologic tests (i.e., complement fixation and precipitation). Proteinuria was estimated by the tannin method. The greatest decrease in serum total protein, especially albumin, was found in the fourth and fifth week of the disease and was related to its severity. Proteinuria was also more prominent in severe cases of trichinosis. A relative and absolute increase in gamma globulins paralleled the increased titer of serologic tests and abnormal thymol turbidity test. In thirty-five persons, follow-up examinations were made within one to twenty months after discharge and almost complete normalization of the previously abnormal tests was found.