Levels of serum vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 in measles.

While the levels of serum vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) have been investigated in many diseases, they have not, to our knowledge, been studied in patients with measles. Serum VCAM-1 and creatinine levels were determined in six adolescent and adult Japanese patients with measles in the acute febrile phase and defervescent afebrile phase. Serum VCAM-1 levels were significantly higher in the acute febrile phase than in the convalescent afebrile phase, but no significant difference between the serum creatinine levels was shown in the two phases. Our study revealed that the high serum VCAM-1 level in the acute febrile phase later decreased in the afebrile convalescent phase. The measurement of circulating VCAM-1 may be useful for the assessment of convalescence in patients with measles.