In a study reported on in Archives of Disease in Childhood, Golden et al. (A-24) tested the hypothesis that plasma calprotectin (PCal) (a neutrophil cytosolic protein released during neutrophil activation or death) concentration is an early and sensitive indicator of inflammation associated with bacterial infection in cystic fibrosis (CF). Subjects were children with confirmed CF and a control group of age- and sex-matched children without the disease. Among the data collected were the following plasma calprotectin ð Þ mg=L and plasma copper (PCu) ð Þ mmol=L measurements. Plasma copper is an index of acute phase response in cystic fibrosis. The authors reported a correlation coefficient of .48 between plasma calprotectin (log10) and plasma copper.

CF CF CF Subject Subject Subject No. PCal PCu No. PCal PCu No. PCal PCu 1 452 17.46 12 1548 15.31 22 674 18.11 2 590 14.84 13 708 17.00 23 3529 17.42 3 1958 27.42 14 8050 20.00 24 1467 17.42 4 2015 18.51 15 9942 25.00 25 1116 16.73 5 417 15.89 16 791 13.10 26 611 18.11 6 2884 17.99 17 6227 23.00 27 1083 21.56 7 1862 21.66 18 1473 16.70 28 1432 21.56 8 10471 19.03 19 8697 18.11 29 4422 22.60 9 25850 16.41 20 621 18.80 30 3198 18.91 10 5011 18.51 21 1832 17.08 31 544 14.37 11 5128 22.70 Control Control Subject Subject No. PCal PCu No. PCal PCu 1 674 16.73 17 368 16.73 2 368 16.73 18 674 16.73 3 321 16.39 19 815 19.82 4 1592 14.32 20 598 16.1 5 518 16.39 21 684 13.63 6 815 19.82 22 684 13.63 7 684 17.96 23 674 16.73 8 870 19.82 24 368 16.73 9 781 18.11 25 1148 24.15 10 727 18.11 26 1077 22.30 11 727 18.11 27 518 9.49 12 781 18.11 28 1657 16.10 13 674 16.73 29 815 19.82 14 1173 20.53 30 368 16.73 15 815 19.82 31 1077 22.30 16 727 18.11