Procalcitonin, an endogenous infection biomarker, can help guide antibiotic treatment. Reducing the duration of an antibiotic course and minimizing the adverse events are beneficial for the patients both economically and physically. This article briefs how procalcitonin could help clinicians strategize the treatment plan. The benefit of Procalcitonin: Procalcitonin is a precursor of thyrocalcitonin hormone. In a healthy individual, procalcitonin is either undetectable or barely detectable (<0.01 ug/L).
If inflammation occurs in the body due to bacterial infection, procalcitonin level in the serum suddenly increases. In a severe case, the level may rise to 100 ug/L with a half-life of 25 – 30 hours. The use of antibiotics can be more or less discouraged if the serum concentration of procalcitonin is less than 0.25 ug/L and encouraged if the concentration is greater than 0.25 ug/L. The…
