CTSB and inflammation: In another evaluation [22], Dabrowski et al. found that SAA levels reflect the intensity of inflammatory processes in bitches with open- and closed-cervix pyometra regardless of the site of blood collection, suggesting once again the usefulness of evaluating peripheral blood APPs levels as indicators of uterine inflammation, with higher concentrations of APPs in the peripheral blood than in the uterine arterial blood of bitches with closed-cervix pyometra.