Biology of procalcitonin and its potential role in veterinary medicine

Abstract

Procalcitonin is the precursor of calcitonin hormone, produced by C cells of thyroid gland in physiological conditions. It is also produced in parenchymal cells of many tissues and leukocytes in pathological situations. In the normal condition, procalcitonin is converted by specific enzymes to the calcitonin. Therefore, it is amount in circulation is very low. On the contrary, it increases in the blood and tissue during diseases, because the procalcitonin produced in parenchymal cells cannot be converted to calcitonin. A great number of data has been documented about procalcitonin in human at the physiological and pathological conditions. Furthermore, productions, genetic regulation, kinetics, analysis methods, it is relation with cytokines and diseases have been studied extensively. Consequently, it is used as a reliable biomarker in human medicine, particularly for widespread bacterial infections. However, little is known about the implications in veterinary medicine. In terms of lightening the veterinary field, basic information and new findings on procalcitonin has been reviewed once more, although, quite a few studies have been conducted on procalcitonin in domestic or farm animals. The findings show that production and kinetics of procalcitonin in animals may be quite different, in both of the normal or pathologic conditions. It is not yet used as a biomarker in veterinary medicine. In addition, it has not yet been investigated whether it has an effect on reducing the antibiotics usage in animals.