Table 1.

Comparison of CRP versus PCT (advantages and disadvantages).

	CRP	PCT
Differentiating bacterial infection from SIRS	− [27]	Specific for bacteria [28, 29]
Response to infection	Slower (days) [27]	2–6 hours [30]
Peak response after infection	2-3 days [27]	12–48 hours [27]
Half-life	Several days [27]	20–35 hours [31]
Plasma kinetic	Slow [27]	Rapid [27]
Price	+	++++
Correlating disease severity and progression	Slightly [27]	+++ [32]
Correlating effective therapy	+	+++ [33, 34]
Prognostic factor for mortality	Weak or nonexistent [27]	Good predictor [31, 32]
Differentiating G+ from G−	− [35]	++ [35]
Response to other factors	Virus, autoimmune diseases, local infections, surgery, trauma [27]	Surgery, trauma, burn, cardiogenic shock, liver cirrhosis [36–38]
Fungal infection	same as bacterial [35]	Slightly elevated [35]
Immunosuppression	Formation can be changed [27]	The induction is reduced [27]
Biological effect	Opsonin for phagocytosis [27]	Chemokine [27]
Sensitivity/specificity	Sensitive but nonspecific [27]	Sensitive and specific [27, 39]
General use	Outpatient care [27]	In intensive care [27]