title: Plasma levels of procalcitonin and interleukin-6 in acute myocardial infarction.
abstract: Estimation of cardiac morbidity in patients after major surgery is a difficult problem. In addition, infectious complications seriously decrease potential beneficial outcome after cardiovascular surgery. The present study assessed the use of a newer marker of the inflammatory response, procalcitonin, in the field of myocardial infarction, in conjunction with measurements of interleukin-6. Forty-four consecutive cases with acute myocardial infarction were included in the study 4+/-1.3 h after the onset of symptoms. Plasma levels of procalcitonin and interleukin-6 were obtained at admission, and after 3, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 48 h, using commercially available test kits. The range of levels of interleukin-6 and procalcitonin was about normal at admission. Interleukin-6 levels increased significantly following myocardial infarction, whereas procalcitonin were essentially unchanged, i.e. remained close to the normal level threshold of 0.5 ng/ml; only minor variability occurred with a mean peak level of procalcitonin of 1+/-0.4 ng/ml. Data demonstrate that, in contrast to the acute phase reactant interleukin-6, plasma levels procalcitonin are not significantly elevated during uncomplicated acute myocardial infarction. This observation may support the role of procalcitonin measurements in the differential diagnosis of infectious and cardiovascular complications after major surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Buratti
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ricevuti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pechlaner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Joannidis
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Wiedermann
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gritti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Herold
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Wiedermann
mesh_terms: D000210:Acute-Phase Reaction / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood*; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000097:blood; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D011379:Prognosis; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C000606589:CALCA protein, human; D018836:Inflammation Mediators; D015850:Interleukin-6; D011498:Protein Precursors; D002116:Calcitonin; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide