1990 brought the conflict between Iraq and Kuwait, called the Persian Gulf War. It’s dusk in 1991 brought the revolution in medical diagnostics. It has been found that men with severe pneumonia caused by inhalation of poison gas tend to have high levels of procalcitonin (PCT). Attracted by this discovery, scientists began a series of tests involving injecting healthy patients with bacterial endotoxins. PCT was to appear in the serum of volunteers as one of the body’s response to inflammation. Moreover the concentration of procalcitonin changes overtime: increased levels appeared after 3-4 hours after the inflammation factor, reached maximum in 6-8 hours, and normalized within 72 hours. Scientists have concluded that the procalcitonin is an excellent indicator of inflammation and bacterial processes. Read full text »