1984 Volume 75 Issue 6 Pages 951-958
The serum levels of sialic acid were measured with a specific enzymatic assay kit in 30 normal subjects, 34 patients with acute cystitis, and 14 patients with acute pyelonephritis. The values of serum sialic acid were related to those of erythrocyte sedimentation rate, total serum protein and its fractions, C reactive protein, and white blood cell count. Blood samples were obtained immediately before treatment in all subjects, and 3, 5, 7, 14, and 28 days after the beginning of antimicrobial chemotherapy in the pyelonephritis patients. The pre-treatment value of serum sialic acid in the pyelonephritis patients was significantly greater than that in the cystitis patients (p<0.001), and the value in the cytitis patients was greater than that in the control subjects (p<0.001). There was a significant correlation between the daily change of the serum sialic acid level and that of α1-globulin, α2-globulin, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate in the pyelonephritis patients. Sialic acid proved to be a useful biochemical marker in acute urinary ract infections, especially in pyelonephritis.
