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Procalcitonin, blood
B.R.A.H.M.S PCT by Abbott Architect iSystems
Plasma or Serum
Container:
SST - Gold Top Tube
PST - Mint Green Top Tube, 3 ml - Lithium Heparin Tube
Green Top White Label, 4 ml - Lithium Heparin Tube
Red Top
Specimens may be stored on or off the clot, red blood cell, or separator gel: at room temperature = < 8 hours, or · at 2 - 8°C = < 48 hours
If testing will be delayed more than 72 hours, plasma or serum should be removed from the red cells, clot, or separator gel and stored at -10°C or = < 15 days
Procalcitonin (PCT) is a 116 amino acid protein prohormone of calcitonin (CT). Under normal metabolic conditions, hormonally active CT is produced and secreted in C - cells of thyroid gland after specific intracellular proteolytic activity. In healthy individuals, the intact PCT is not secreted from the thyroid and levels in the blood are very low. Response to inflammatory stimuli, including bacterial infection, induces an increased expression of the CALC-I gene production and secretion of intact PC from all parenchymal and differentiated cell types throughout the body. An increase in circulating PCT can be observed 2- 4 hours after bacterial induction and it may increase up to several hundred ug/ L in severe sepsis and septic shock.
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