Using Procalcitonin in Septic Shock to Guide Antibacterial Therapy

Abstract

Over the last decade, the biomarkers procalcitonin and C-reactive protein have gained interest in sepsis research. Procalcitonin is a unique biomarker that is specific to bacterial infection and has demonstrated utility in the risk stratification of patients with potential life-threatening bacterial infections. In addition, procalcitonin has been documented as having a role in reducing the rate of unnecessary antibiotics while positively impacting antibiotic resistance rates and cost savings. The purposes of this review article are to discuss the clinical relevance of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin as diagnostic and prognostic markers for sepsis with a focus on the use of serial procalcitonin levels as a component of antibiotic stewardship programs. The federal government has recently become invested in combating the progression of antibiotic resistance; a 5-year national plan has been developed to address these concerns. Establishing a reliable antibiotic stewardship program is one of the goals of this national plan.

Prognostic Significance of the angiopoietin-2 for Early Prediction of Septic Shock in Severe Sepsis Patients

“…Therefore, a number of serum biomarkers have been proposed to predict septic shock in sepsis patients such as C-reactive protein (CRP), cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α), chemokines (IL-8, MCP-1, G-CSF) and procalcitonin [ 3 , 9 ]. Among them, procalcitonin has been used to differentiate between bacterial and viral infections [ 10 ]. However, these biomarkers cannot help diagnose, early, and prognosticate septic shock and also differentiate it from some other diseases such as systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) [ 3 ].…”