Despite major improvements in its
treatment and
diagnosis,
sepsis is still a leading
cause of death and admittance to the
intensive care unit (ICU). Failure to identify
patients at high
risk of developing
septic shock contributes to an increase in the
sepsis burden and rapid molecular tests are currently the most promising avenue to
aid in
patient risk determination and
therapeutic anticipation. The primary
goal of this study was to evaluate the
genetic susceptibility that
affects sepsis outcome in 72
sepsis patients admitted to the ICU. Seven polymorphisms were genotyped in key inflammatory response
genes in
sepsis, including tumour
necrosis factor-α, interlelukin (IL)-1β,
IL-10,
IL-8,
Toll-like receptor 4, CXCR1 and CXCR2. The primary finding showed that
patients who were homozygous for the major A
allele in
IL-10 rs1800896 had almost five times higher chance to develop
septic shock compared to
heterozygotes. Similarly, selected clinical features and CXCR2 rs1126579
single nucleotide polymorphisms modulated
septic shock susceptibility without affecting
survival. These data support the hypothesis that
molecular testing has clinical usefulness to improve
sepsis prognostic models. Therefore, enrichment of the ICU portfolio by including these
biomarkers will aid in the early identification of
sepsis patients who may develop
septic shock.