ABSTRACT
During an acute phase reaction large quantities of different acute phase proteins can be found in blood plasma. One of these proteins is serum amyloid A (SAA). The liver is the predominant producer of SAA. Several isoforms of SAA are described for different species, some are found in a variety of extrahepatic tissues. In most mammals SAA4 appears to be the predominant isoform expressed extrahepatically. In the mammary gland a SAA3 has been described. It appears in milk during the dry period, has large quantities in colostrum and is elevated during mastitis. Amyloid fibrils were isolated from mammary corpora amylacea. The corpora amylacea were purified after collection from frozen tissue samples corresponding to samples fixed for histology. This tissue was shown to be positive in Congo red stained sections. Tissue sections from infected and control mammary glands were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and alkalic Congo red and with SAA monoclonal from Tridelta, using ABC method.
