title: Procalcitonin neutralizes bacterial LPS and reduces LPS-induced cytokine release in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Procalcitonin (PCT) is a polypeptide with several cationic aminoacids in its chemical structure and it is a well known marker of sepsis. It is now emerging that PCT might exhibit some anti-inflammatory effects. The present study, based on the evaluation of the in vitro interaction between PCT and bacterial lipopolisaccharide (LPS), reports new data supporting the interesting and potentially useful anti-inflammatory activity of PCT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PCT significantly decreased (p < 0.05) the limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) assay reactivity of LPS from both Salmonella typhimurium (rough chemotype) and Escherichia coli (smooth chemotype). Subsequently, the in vitro effects of PCT on LPS-induced cytokine release were studied in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). When LPS was pre-incubated for 30 minutes with different concentrations of PCT, the release of interleukin-10 (IL-10) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) by PBMC decreased in a concentration-dependent manner after 24 hours for IL-10 and 4 hours for TNFα. The release of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) exhibited a drastic reduction at 4 hours for all the PCT concentrations assessed, whereas such decrease was concentration-dependent after 24 hours.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides the first evidence of the capability of PCT to directly neutralize bacterial LPS, thus leading to a reduction of its major inflammatory mediators.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology, Department of Medical Sciences, University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, I-88100, Catanzaro, Italy. gm4106@gmail.com
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Matera
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quirino
authors.forename: Aida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giancotti
authors.forename: Maria Concetta
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Pulicari
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rametti
authors.forename: Maria Luz
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: Maria Carla
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Liberto
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Focà
mesh_terms: D002116:Calcitonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology*; D008033:Limulus Test; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000276:immunology*; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000378:metabolism*; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: C000606589:CALCA protein, human; D016207:Cytokines; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D011498:Protein Precursors; D002116:Calcitonin; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide