THE PHENOMENON OF THE ACUTE PHASE RESPONSE *

Avery never discussed the C-reactive protein without turning the conversation to what he was wont to call “the chemistry of the host.” Although he never spelled out what he meant by that expression, he clearly had in mind all the unidentified body substances and mechanisms of a nonimmunological nature, both protective and destructive, that come into play in the course of infectious processes.+ Rene J. Dubos