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Causes of acidic glycoprotein changes
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
Orosomucoid is an acute phase protein. Its synthesis is stimulated by lipopolysaccharides released from macrophages activated by interleukin-6 (IL-6). The orosomucoid content in the blood increases during inflammatory processes (infections, rheumatic diseases, injuries, surgical interventions), tumors. The study of this indicator in dynamics allows us to evaluate the dynamics of the inflammatory process, and in tumors, in the case of their surgical treatment, to diagnose the occurrence of a relapse.
Since the concentration of orosomucoid in the blood increases during inflammatory processes, it is capable of binding an increased amount of medication taken by the patient, as a result of which dissociation may occur between the pharmacological effect and the concentration of the drug in the blood.
A decreased concentration of orosomucoid in the blood serum is possible in early childhood, during pregnancy (early stages), severe liver damage, nephrotic syndrome, taking estrogens, oral contraceptives. With age, the concentration of albumins and especially alpha 1- glycoprotein in the blood decreases; since many drugs (e.g., lidocaine, propranolol, tricyclic antidepressants) bind to these proteins after entering the bloodstream, the elderly may have an increase in the content of their free fraction, which creates the prerequisites for increased pharmacodynamic action and the occurrence of side effects.
The combined determination of orosomucoid and haptoglobin in blood serum is important for the diagnosis of hemolysis in vivo. Usually, the concentrations of these two proteins increase and decrease simultaneously during acute-phase processes; an increased content of orosomucoid with a normal content of haptoglobin indicates the occurrence of an acute-phase process with moderate hemolysis in vivo.
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