Procalcitonin neutralizes bacterial LPS and reduces LPS-induced cytokine release in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Giovanni Matera,Maria Rodríguez,Aida Giancotti,Maria Pulicari,Angela Quirino,Linda Rametti,Alfredo Focà,Maria Liberto

doi:10.1186/1471-2180-12-68

Giovanni Matera, Maria Rodríguez + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2180-12-68

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Journal: BMC microbiology	Publication Date: Jan 1, 2012
Citations: 47	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Magna Graecia University

Abstract

BackgroundProcalcitonin (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.ResultsPCT 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.ConclusionsThis 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.

Highlights

Procalcitonin (PCT) is a polypeptide with several cationic aminoacids in its chemical structure and it is a well known marker of sepsis
Higher (5000 pg/ml) (Figure 1) or lower (50 pg/ml), concentrations of PCT did not produce any significant change in limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) reactivity of the LPS assessed
PCT effects on LPS-induced cytokine release After 4 and 24 hours incubation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with S. typhimurium LPS pre-incubated with PCT, the release of Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), IL-10, IL-4 and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) was simultaneously assessed with a cytokine biochip array

Summary

Introduction

Procalcitonin (PCT) is a polypeptide with several cationic aminoacids in its chemical structure and it is a well known marker of sepsis. It is 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. The primary structure of whole PCT includes some relevant polycationic motifs (2–3 bibasic aminoacids within a sequence of four) [1]. A pro-inflammatory activity of PCT in the pathogenesis of sepsis has been suggested based on immune-neutralization findings in two animal species [3].

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