title: Procalcitonin: how a hormone became a marker and mediator of sepsis.
abstract: Calcitonin was discovered in the early 1960s [1], at which time it was assumed to be a single hormone with a yet-to-be-determined role in human physiology. Since then it has been found to be only one entity among a large array of related circulating peptides, at least one of which has a pivotal role in the host response to microbial infections [2, 3]. The aim of this review is to describe this metamorphosis of an endocrine hormone to a new class of hormokine mediators in infectious diseases.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Clinical Nutrition, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospitals, Basel, Switzerland. happymiller@bigfoot.com
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Becker
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018805:Sepsis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C000606589:CALCA protein, human; D011498:Protein Precursors; D002116:Calcitonin; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide