The relationship between elevated fibrinogen and markers of infection: a comparison of seasonal cycles

To test the hypothesis that higher levels of fibrinogen in winter are related to infections via the acute phase response, we assessed seasonal variation in fibrinogen and C‐reactive protein, together with three other responses to infection: white cell count, human herpesvirus‐6 IgG antibody and inte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	QJM : An International Journal of Medicine Vol. 93; no. 11; pp. 745 - 750
Main Authors:	Crawford, V.L.S., Sweeney, O., Coyle, P.V., Halliday, I.M., Stout, R.W.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford Oxford University Press 01-11-2000 Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
Subjects:	Aged Biological and medical sciences Biomarkers - blood C-Reactive Protein - analysis Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Fibrinogen - analysis Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect General aspects Herpesvirus 6, Human - immunology Humans Immunoglobulin G - immunology Infection pathogenesis Infectious diseases Interleukin-6 - blood Leukocyte Count Mathematical Computing Medical sciences Seasons Human Infection Seasonal variation Clinical biology Risk factor Fibrinogen Biological marker Molecular biology C reactive protein Elderly Comparative study
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Summary:	To test the hypothesis that higher levels of fibrinogen in winter are related to infections via the acute phase response, we assessed seasonal variation in fibrinogen and C‐reactive protein, together with three other responses to infection: white cell count, human herpesvirus‐6 IgG antibody and interleukin‐6. Monthly blood samples from 24 subjects aged 75+ years were assessed for fibrinogen, C‐reactive protein, white cell count, and human herpesvirus‐6 IgG antibody. Interleukin‐6 was measured in seven. Seasonal variation of these measures was determined by the population‐mean cosinor procedure. Fibrinogen had a significant seasonal variation with a winter peak (mid‐February) 1.26 g/l above the corresponding summer trough. C‐reactive protein had a late‐February peak, 3.71 mg/l above the summer trough. No seasonal rhythm was found in any other response to infection investigated. This study provides no evidence that winter infections are responsible for the seasonal variation in fibrinogen or C‐reactive protein. The explanation for the seasonal changes in these proteins remains unknown.
Bibliography:	local:930745 istex:51B2A1027D9D96DD13090AE96A35E29F94D203EE PII:1460-2393 ark:/67375/HXZ-HQ9X03V6-X ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1460-2725 1460-2393 1460-2393
DOI:	10.1093/qjmed/93.11.745