Elevation of serum transcobalamin II in patients with scrub typhus
Cheeramakara, C.; Thanomsak, W.; Songmeang, K.; Nontprasert, A.; Sanghirun, C.; Suthisai, N.; Areekul, S.
Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health 36(1): 113-117
2005
ISSN/ISBN: 0125-1562 PMID: 15906652 Document Number: 586703
Serum transcobalamin 11 levels were measured in scrub typhus patients. Eighteen out of fifty-two patients admitted to Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital were diagnosed with scrub typhus infection. The serum unsaturated vitamin B-12 binding protein (UBBC) and total vitamin B-12 binding protein (TBBC) levels in these patients were significantly higher than in normal subjects (p<0.001). The mean serum transcobalamin 11 level in the typhus patients was also significantly higher than in the normal subjects (p=0.004). There was a significant correlation between serum TCII levels and typhus IgM or IgG titers (p<0.05), but not to total IgM levels. These findings indicate that patients with scrub typhus had stimulation of the recticuloendothelial system as a result of a considerable increase in transcobalamin 11 levels.