title: Characterization of increased synthesis of acute phase proteins from plasma concentration measurements: a system analysis of the ideal situation with use of computer simulation.
abstract: A method for characterizing the secretion of acute phase proteins in vivo from serial plasma concentration measurements is presented. By using a simple two-compartment model it was found that descriptive parameters could be derived from the time course of the increased plasma concentration of the protein. It was assumed that the secretion of an acute phase protein is adequately described by: (i) the start time t1; (ii) the end time t2; (iii) the magnitude of increased flux of the protein from synthetic sites to the extracellular space, described by a turnover index, S. The influence of sampling interval and analytical precision on the reliability of the estimated parameter values was investigated in the ideal situation by using computer simulation. It was found that informative estimates of the secretion rate of an acute phase protein could be obtained provided a fairly high analytical precision with a coefficient of variation less than or equal to 0.01 and using a sampling interval between 0.5--2 h.
mesh_terms: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D003201:Computers; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008722:Methods; D008954:Models, Biological; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D013597:Systems Analysis; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D001798:Blood Proteins; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone