Procalcitonin is a protein consisting of 116 amino-acids which can rapidly rise under inflammatory conditions and sepsis. More than 20 years ago it has been shown that dipeptidylpeptidase-4 (DPP-4) cleaves procalcitonin from the n-terminus, resulting in a truncated procalcitonin-variant which consists of 114 aminoacids. Within their workgroup the investigators found that the truncated procalcitonin-variant had deleterious effects on vascular integrity during sepsis in mice. However, it is unknown if this applies also in humans. By using an ELISA-assay the investigators want to examine the ratio between native and truncated human procalcitonin during diseases accompanied with hyperprocalcitoninemia and correlate the results with clinical data.
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Ratio between native and truncated procalcitonin during different conditions of hyperprocalcitoninemia
Timeframe: Blood withdrawal takes approximately 5 minutes per patient