Paired measurement of serum amyloid A (SAA) and paraoxonase 1 (PON1) as useful markers in breast cancer recurrence

Abstract Objectives Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) and serum amyloid A (SAA) are carried by HDL. In case of inflammation, SAA and PON1 tend to change in opposite direction. In this study we determined if inflammation leads to altered PON1 activity using three different substrate hydrolysis rates, paraoxonase (PON), arylesterase (ARE) and lactonase (LAC) in breast cancer recurrence. Design and methods 49 patients with a recurrence of breast cancer were analyzed for SAA, CRP, lipids, oxidized LDL, PON, ARE and LAC. Distribution of PON1 activities across the quartiles of CRP and SAA were compared by the Kruskal Wallis test. Non-parametric estimates of the survivor function were computed with Kaplan–Meier method. The association of SAA and ARE with short term death was assessed by logistic regression models. Results HDL and ARE decrease significantly across the quartiles of CRP. No significant differences were observed across SAA quartiles. The survival time was significantly related to the level of SAA (log rank: p  Conclusions PON1 does not seem to be directly affected by SAA, for any of the tested substrates, PON, ARE and LAC. The combined measurement of SAA and ARE could be a useful tool in this clinical situation, since they are independently related to short term death.