As inflammation is the body's natural immune response to disease or infection, it increases blood flow in the body and helps the body's cells to defend themselves against viruses, infections or cell damage. Fast diagnostics of inflammation is crucial for effective treatments, so it is extremely important to test the levels of inflammatory biomarkers in the body. Researchers from the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences have demonstrated a novel point-of-care device to monitor levels of the C-reactive protein (CRP) that is produced in the body during inflammation.
The work is published in the journal ACS Sensors . CRP is a molecule that is an important factor in the flaring up of many diseases of various etiologies. Although CRP has been known and used for many decades to diagnose inflammation in the body, its use as a potential biomarker in the diagnosis of other disease conditions in the body is relatively new.
CRP is a plasma protein produced in the liver and released into the bloodstream as a response of the immune system, acting as a biomarker of inflammation and infection. Its level monitoring helps to diagnose even severe conditions like trauma, sepsis, ischemic necrosis and/or malignancies. As CRP is classified as an acute phase reactant, the single measurement of its level only indicates the inflammatory diseases, and blood tests must be repeated to determine the efficacy of a specific therapy.
Currently, despite technological advances in biomed.