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Severe Sepsis Can Harm the Immune System

Severe sepsis can impair the body’s immune system, a new study shows.

More than 225,000 people die from sepsis each year in the United States. Sepsis is a life-threatening, severe bacterial infection of the body's blood system or tissues. Sepsis patients require rapid treatment with intravenous antibiotics.

“Developing new therapies for sepsis has been particularly challenging, with more than 25 unsuccessful drug trials,” says study author Dr. Jonathan S. Boomer, of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

“Characterized by an initial intense inflammatory response, patients with sepsis may present with fever, shock, altered mental status, and organ dysfunction," according to background information in the article published in JAMA. "Whether this hyperinflammatory phase is followed by immunosuppression is controversial. Animal studies suggest that multiple immune defects occur in sepsis, but data from humans remain conflicting."

Boomer and colleagues conducted this study to assess evidence of immunosuppression in sepsis and discover mechanisms that might be responsible for impaired immunity.

To characterize their immune status at the time of death, postmortem spleen and lung tissue harvest was conducted on 40 patients, average age 72, who died in intensive care units (ICUs) with active severe sepsis between 2009 and 2011. This was compared with a control group of patients, average age 53, who died from other causes without sepsis. Different tests were performed on the tissue samples to identify possible causes of immune dysfunction.

For patients who died of sepsis the findings were consistent for immunosuppression, compared with the patients who died of nonsepsis causes.

This new study has significant therapeutic implications for sepsis patients.

Past research has been directed at blocking inflammation and immune activation, and such therapies have proved successful if applied early. However, researchers say they could be harmful if applied later in the immunosuppressive phase.

The study’s authors report that a vital part of implementing new targeted therapies will be to correctly determine each patient’s immune status during their disease.

For more on medical safety issues, see the library of articles by Daytona Beach medical malpractice attorney.

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