Procalcitonin — A new indicator of the systemic response to severe infections

Karzai, Waheedullah; Oberhoffer, M.; Meier‐Hellmann, Andreas; Reinhart, Konrad

doi:10.1007/bf01740811

Cited by 221 publications

(168 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Procalcitonin (PCT) is an acute phase reactant protein and consists of 116 amino acids [2]. It has been reported as a sensitive marker of severe bacterial infection [3,4]. While some studies implicate a poor diagnostic value to PCT in lower respiratory tract infections like pulmonary tuberculosis [5,6], some others report that PCT could be a good indicator of inflammation in patients with chronic diseases and in persons exposed to long-lasting infections like tuberculosis [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serum PCT and its Relation to Body Weight Gain in Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Rohini

Bhat²,

Srikumar

et al. 2014

Ind J Clin Biochem

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The present study was aimed at assessing alterations in serum PCT in terms of its relation to body weight gain in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients undergoing treatment. Among patients (25-75 years) diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, those that were new smear positive, showed sputum conversion at the end of 2 months and were declared clinically cured at the end of 6 months, were included in the study (n = 40). Serum procalcitonin was determined by BRAHMS PCT-Q kit. Patients were divided into two study groups-Group 1 (n = 21; serum PCT [ 2 ng/ml at diagnosis), Group 2 (n = 19; serum PCT [ 10 ng/ml at diagnosis). Body weights of all patients were obtained at three different time points, PTB-0 (at diagnosis), PTB-2 (after 2 months of intensive treatment) and PTB-6 (after 6 months of treatment). In both groups, mean body weights at PTB-2 and PTB-6 were significantly higher than those at PTB-0 and at PTB-6 were significantly higher than those at PTB-2. However, percentage body weight gain following 2 months of intensive treatment was higher in group 1 (4.05 % gain, p \ 0.01) than in group 2 (2.75 % body weight gain, p \ 0.05). Thus, the percentage gain in group 1 was tending more towards the desirable minimum gain of 5 % during intensive phase. Increase in serum PCT levels in pulmonary tuberculosis is inversely associated with body weight gain during treatment. Thus, PCT could play a role in regulation of body weight gain in anorectic conditions like tuberculosis.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serum PCT and its Relation to Body Weight Gain in Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Rohini

Bhat²,

Srikumar

et al. 2014

Ind J Clin Biochem

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“…Serum PCT measurement has allowed discrimination between episodes of fever caused by bacteria, fungi, and parasites from fevers of viral and noninfectious etiologies. [7][8][9] In addition, serum PCT levels have been found to correlate with severity in bacterial, fungal, and parasitic infections. 10,11 In this study of pediatric BMT recipients, it was our goal to address the following questions: (1) Are serum levels of PCT specifically elevated during a septic episode?…”

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confidence: 99%

Procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, and endotoxin after bone marrow transplantation: identification of children at high risk of morbidity and mortality from sepsis

Sauer

Tiede

Fuchs

et al. 2003

Bone Marrow Transplant

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Summary:We prospectively evaluated the capacity of serum procalcitonin (PCT), compared with serum levels of Creactive protein (CRP) and endotoxin, to identify children at high risk for mortality from sepsis after BMT. Of 47 pediatric bone marrow transplantation patients studied, 22 had an uneventful course post-transplant (Group 1), 17 survived at least one septic event (Group 2), and eight died from multiorgan failure (MOF) following septic shock (Group 3). Median concentrations of PCT over the course of the study were 1.3, 15.2, and 102.8 ng/ml, respectively, in each of the three groups (Po0.002 for each comparison). Median concentrations of CRP were 91, 213, and 260 mg/l, respectively (Po0.001 for Group 1 vs Group 2 and Group 3; P ¼ NS for Group 2 vs Group 3). Median concentrations of endotoxin were 0.21, 0.30, and 0.93 U/l, respectively (P ¼ NS for each comparison). Median concentrations of PCT, in contrast to serum CRP and endotoxin, correlated with the severity of sepsis (8.2 ng/ml in 'sepsis' and 22.3 ng/ml in 'severe sepsis', P ¼ 0.028) and provided useful prognostic information during septic episodes.

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“…PCT is then cleaved via a specific protease to calcitonin, katacalcin and an N-terminal residue (5). In contrast to the short half-life of calcitonin (10 min), PCT has a long half-life of 25-30 h in serum (6). In healthy humans, PCT levels are undetectable (< 0.1 ng/ml).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Severe generalized bacterial, parasitic or fungal infections with systemic manifestation are associated with increased PCT serum levels. Karzai et al reported that PCT may be a superior marker in infections with systemic manifestation (6).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, a larger sample may result in more accurate information concerning the causes of microbacterium in our study population, thereby aiding in the treatment modality to be used. PCT was previously proposed as a new marker of severe bacterial infection (6,15,16) that may be particularly useful in the discrimination between septic complication and non-infectious fever in transplant patients (17). Although PCT appears to be ubiquitously produced by the body, initial concerns were that, as in the case of traditional cytokines, PCT is produced mainly by white blood cells.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Infectious background of febrile advanced lung cancer patients who received chemotherapy

et al. 2010

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Abstract. The study aimed to determine the diagnostic utility of procalcitonin (PCT) in order to discriminate between infective fever and fever due to inflammation in febrile advanced lung cancer patients treated with cytotoxic chemotherapy. A total of 121 patients with advanced lung cancer, treated with a cytotoxic chemotherapy regimen between September 2007 and September 2008 at Kyoto University Hospital, were recruited. Blood samples were obtained on the first day of the fever. Serum c-reactive protein (CRP) and PCT levels were measured. At least two blood cultures were performed, and sputum was taken for Gram staining and culture. There were 71 episodes in 61 patients in the 12 months of the study, representing 50.4% of our study population. A total of 41 patients (57.7%) were diagnosed with pneumonia using imaging modalities, 6 (8.5%) with bacteremia using blood culture and 4 (5.6%) with urinary tract infections using urine culture. Among the 41 pneumonia cases, culture from sputum revealed pathologic bacteria in 21 (51.2%) and fungal disease in 14 (34.1%) cases. Among the 71 febrile episodes, serum procalcitonin and CRP were measured in 50 episodes. Serum procalcitonin-positive patients showed poor outcomes on antibiotics therapy (Fisher's exact test, p=0.042). Furthermore, serum procalcitonin positivity was able to discriminate infective fever from fever due to inflammation (Chi-square test, p=0.001). We showed the causative organisms of febrile advanced lung cancer patients who received cytotoxic chemotherapy, as well as the possibility of PCT to discriminate infective fever from fever due to inflammation.

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Procalcitonin — A new indicator of the systemic response to severe infections

Cited by 221 publications

References 40 publications

Serum PCT and its Relation to Body Weight Gain in Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Serum PCT and its Relation to Body Weight Gain in Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, and endotoxin after bone marrow transplantation: identification of children at high risk of morbidity and mortality from sepsis

Infectious background of febrile advanced lung cancer patients who received chemotherapy

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