Description
Procalcitonin is a precursor of the peptide hormone called calcitonin. Procalcitonin is mainly produced by the C cells of the thyroid and certain endocrine cells of the lung. Under normal expression conditions, procalcitonin is immediately cleaved into three specific fragments, an N terminal residue, calcitonin and katacalcin. Levels of unprocessed procalcitonin have been shown to rise significantly after bacterial infection, trauma or shock. PCT is a promising biomarker that exhibits greater specificity than other proinflammatory markers (CRP, TNF-a, interleukins) in identifying patients with sepsis and can be used in the diagnosis of bacterial infections