Use of serum C-reactive protein as an early marker of inflammatory activity in canine type II immune-mediated polyarthritis: Case report

Abstract

Background. Monitoring systemic inflammatory activity during steroid therapy of canine immune-mediated polyarthritis (IMPA) is difficult and mainly relies on clinical signs. Case presentation. Canine serum C-reactive protein (CRP) was measured serially and blinded during a 27-week follow-up period of a case of Anaplasma phagocytophilia induced type II immune-mediated polyarthritis. Conclusion. WBC was, as expected, observed not to reflect the inflammatory activity during steroid treatment in a clinical useful manner, whereas, CRP is suggested a valuable unbiased marker of inflammatory activity during steroid treatment in this case. © 2006 Kjelgaard-Hansen et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.