Examination of the effect of procalcitonin on human leucocytes and the porcine isolated coronary artery

Abstract

Procalcitonin has a proinflammatory effect on human leucocytes and porcine coronary artery, but it is not capable of modulating LPS-induced changes in vascular responsiveness in vitro.

Intravenous immunoglobulin prevents release of proinflammatory cytokines in human monocytic cells stimulated with procalcitonin

“…2, the activities of PCT on the cells became apparent at a dose of more than 3 nmol/L (39 ng/ml) in our experiments. Wei et al [13] reported that PCT (100 nmol/L) showed a proinflammatory action in both neutrophils and monocytes, which is consistent with our result. In a clinical study, the serum level of PCT was around 1 ng/ml in infected patients and more than 10 ng/ml in those with severe sepsis with organ dysfunction [11].…”

“…In recent years, PCT's novel function has been reported in that PCT itself has a proinflammatory effect on human monocytes [12,13]. In the present investigation, we demonstrated that PCT induced the release of proinflammatory cytokines, including TNF-a, IL-1b, IL-6 and HMGB1, from THP-1 cells differentiated by PMA.…”

“…In addition, PCT itself has been reported to have a proinflammatory effect on human monocytes, at least through the induction of monocyte migration [12]. PCT increased forward scatter in monocytes and elevated the surface expression of CD14 [13]. Recently, Liappis et al [14] reported that whole blood stimulated with PCT produced proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-a, IL-6 and IL-1b.…”

Exogenous procalcitonin evokes a pro-inflammatory cytokine response

“…In an animal model of sepsis, ProCT exposure neither initiated nor enhanced systemic expression of the inflammatory markers IL-1b and TNFa [15]. However, ProCT (100 nM) was shown to elicit an increase in TNFa release at levels that parallel the response to exogenous endotoxin in healthy animals [16]. The hypersecretion of ProCT during sepsis is consistent with the dose that induced the cellular changes observed in this study (1,000 pM is equivalent to serum concentration of 12.8 ng/ml).…”

Immune regulation of procalcitonin: a biomarker and mediator of infection

“…This may explain the massive increase in levels of PCT following infection where bacteria induces proinflammatory cytokines that stimulate PCT release, which, in turn, trigger production of PCT itself, causing a positive loop of PCT secretion. The data that PCT can induce an intracellular signal transduction pathway were presented by Wei et al [65] who showed that following the incubation of human monocytes and neutrophils with PCT, there was an increased intracellular Ca 2? and higher expression of CD16 and CD14 on the cell membrane of these cells.…”