Severe sepsis and septic shock are an important cause of mortality and morbidity. These illnesses can be triggered by the bacterial endotoxin LPS (lipopolysaccharide) and pro-inflammatory cytokines, particularly TNF-α (tumour necrosis factor-α) and IL (interleukin)-1β. Severity and mortality of sepsis have also been associated with high concentrations of N-PCT (aminoprocalcitonin), a 57-amino-a...

INTRODUCTION Because the use of procalcitonin (PCT) as a marker of bacterial infection has been advocated, this study was carried out to determine the usefulness of plasma PCT in the early diagnosis and differentiation of patients with non-infectious systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) from those with sepsis, and the relationship between plasma PCT level and severity of organ failure...

BACKGROUND Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common respiratory disorder in children, which necessitates hospitalization. Bacterial pneumonia, especially lobar pneumonia and parapneumonic effusions, is associated with considerably severe clinical course and extensive alveolar infiltrates. Serum procalcitonin (PCT) level has been used to distinguish bacterial from viral infections, but its...

Several studies have investigated the diagnostic accuracy of procalcitonin (PCT) levels in blood or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in bacterial meningitis (BM), but the results were heterogeneous. The aim of the present study was to ascertain the diagnostic accuracy of PCT as a marker for BM detection. A systematic search of the EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases was performed to i...

Early differentiation between bacterial infections and disease flares in autoimmune disease patients is important due to different treatments. Seventy-nine autoimmune disease patients with symptoms suggestive of infections or disease flares were collected by retrospective chart review. The patients were later classified into two groups, disease flare and infection. C-reactive protein (CRP) and ...

Procalcitonin (PCT) is a promising biomarker for identification of the origin and severity of sepsis, which is a deadly body infection. In this work, we report the preparation of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor which utilizes a molecular imprinted polymer surface for rapid and reliable detection of PCT. The molecular imprinted surface was prepared using a microcontact imprinting tec...

AIM To study the frequency of HFE gene mutations (C282Y, H63D, S65C) in a group of 54 sporadic PCT patients and in a group of healthy controls (blood donors) from Guipúzcoa, Spain. We studied the association of PCT with HCV, HBV, alcohol abuse, and other established risk factors. METHODS The analysis of mutations was made by PCR. Allelic and genotypic frequencies were compared. Probability wa...

Procalcitonin (PCT) is synthesized by a large number of tissues and organs in response to invasion by pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and some parasites. Current PCT assays are rapid, specific, and of sufficient sensitivity to detect increases in PCT serum levels within 4 to 6 h of initiation of infection. Clinically, PCT levels may help in decisions regarding the need for empirical antibiotic ther...

BACKGROUND Bloodstream infection (BSI) is associated with a high mortality rate. Since the origin of infection is demonstrated in approximately 2/3rds of cases, early and established biomarkers are warranted. We evaluated the clinical performances of automated procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) assays for the quantitative detection of BSI. Analytical performance of the VIDAS(R) BR...