title: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate measurements by TEST 1 better reflect inflammation than do those by the Westergren method in patients with malignancy, autoimmune disease, or infection.
abstract: We compared the TEST 1 (Alifax, Padova, Italy) and Westergren methods of measuring the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) to assess inflammation. The ESR was measured by both methods in 154 blood samples from patients with malignancy (n = 69), autoimmune disease (n = 44), or infection (n = 41). Total protein, albumin, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured in each plasma sample, and albumin and alpha(1)-, alpha(2)-, beta(1)-, beta(2)-, and gamma-globulin fractions were measured by capillary electrophoresis. TEST 1 ESR values were significantly lower than the Westergren values, by 10.9 mm/h. We found that the correlations of TEST 1 ESR values with inflammatory protein levels (total protein, globulin, CRP, and alpha(1)-, alpha(2)-, beta(2)-, and gamma-globulin) were better than those obtained using the Westergren method. These findings indicate that ESR measurements by TEST 1 reflect inflammation better than do those by the Westergren method in patients with malignancy, autoimmune disease, or infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Gangneung Asan Hospital, Gangneung, Korea.
authors.forename: Choong-Hwan
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Chan-Jeoung
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Young Joo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Hyun Kyung
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Duck Hee
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae Hoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Jae-Seol
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Seongsoo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Hyun-Sook
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.forename: Dong Soon
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Han-Ik
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006403:Hematologic Tests / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000097:blood*; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D001798:Blood Proteins