Downplay Sepsis at Your Peril

The investigators express the hope that customized treatments will continue to improve care for sepsis patients around the world. “We have now implemented this new algorithm based on procalcitonin guidance in our ICU for patients presenting with severe sepsis and septic shock, and are following the outcome of those patients,” says Pugin. “Currently, three large multi-center trials are ongoing in France, Denmark and Germany, with a design similar to that of our study. Results from these studies will be important to determine whether such a protocol of procalcitonin guidance is definitely safe and can be generalized worldwide.”

Nutraceuticals’ Role in Sepsis Prevention

Even green tea has proven helpful, according to a new study by Haichao Wang, PhD, of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. Wang and his colleagues found that an ingredient in green tea rescued mice from lethal sepsis — findings that may lead to clinical trials in humans.

Wang had previously discovered a late mediator of sepsis called HMGB1, a substance expressed in the late stages of lethal sepsis. The researchers found a way to block this substance, which they felt would prevent the sepsis process from moving forward.

In the latest study, Wang’s group gave a substance in green tea called EGCG to mice with severe sepsis. The dose was equivalent to 10 cups in a human. Survival jumped from 53 percent in controls to 82 percent in those who received the green tea substance. “Clinically, even if we could save 5 percent of patients, that would be huge,” says Wang. “In this study, we saved 25 percent more animals with the green tea.”