The inflammatory markers are a disparate set of biomarkers that are used clinically to assess a patient for:
- presence/absence of an active inflammatory disease process
- activity of a known disease
Possible disease processes may include infective, malignant and autoimmune diseases, although it is now recognized that these markers may be raised, often only mildly, in a broad spectrum of disease, from atherosclerosis to mental illness, because many diseases are now known/suspected to have an inflammatory component.
List of inflammatory markers
Traditionally the key inflammatory markers were 1,2:
- C-reactive protein (CRP)
- erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR): often plasma viscosity used instead
However other markers are also used, including:
- acute phase proteins (e.g. fibrinogen, ferritin)
- IL-6
- IL-10
- procalcitonin
- soluble IL-2 receptor
- tumor necrosis factor (TNF)
Elevated inflammatory markers
- infections
- inflammatory disease
- malignancy
- major depressive disorder
- myocardial infarction
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