Shock : molecular, cellular, and systemic pathobiological aspects and therapeutic approaches : the official journal the Shock Society, the European Shock Society, the Brazilian Shock Society, the International Federation of Shock Societies
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Selection of study endpoints is one of the most important decisions in the design of effective clinical trials. Late mortality (e.g., 28 days) is an unambiguous endpoint, accepted by regulatory agencies, but it is viewed as problematic among researchers in the study of resuscitation for acute trauma injury with hemorrhagic shock. In February 2008, physicians, ethicists, statisticians, and research scientists from the military, academia, industry, the Federal Drug Administration, and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute gathered to discuss the obstacles confronting the trauma community in their efforts to improve patient outcomes. ⋯ Successful and failed, completed or ongoing, clinical studies provided insight as to endpoints that may be of value for future trauma and shock studies. In addition to the importance of appropriate endpoints in study design, other related topics were discussed, including trauma epidemiology, patient enrollment and inclusion criteria, community consultation and the difficulty of obtaining informed consent in acute trauma research, and the inclusion of quality of life in composite endpoints. The consensus was that more discussion was needed and that consideration of new endpoints for clinical trials in emergency trauma research was a worthwhile and necessary goal.
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We reported previously that hypertonic saline (HS) treatment can prevent or upregulate the function of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) via A2a-type adenosine receptors or A3-type adenosine receptors (A3R), respectively. A3R translocate to the cell surface upon PMN stimulation, and thus, HS promotes PMN responses under conditions of delayed HS treatment. Here we investigated if inhibition of A3R improves the protective effects of HS resuscitation in a mouse sepsis model. ⋯ Using a mouse model of cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis, we found that MRS-1191 reduces acute lung injury and PMN accumulation in lung tissue. Whereas delayed HS treatment (4 mL/kg of 7.5% NaCl) of mice 1 h after CLP aggravated PMN accumulation, lung tissue damage, and mortality 24 h after CLP, infusion of MRS-1191 (2 ng/kg body weight) combined with HS reduced these detrimental effects of delayed HS treatment. Our data thus show that A3 receptor antagonists can strengthen the beneficial effects of HS resuscitation by avoiding stimulatory adverse effects that result from delayed HS administration.
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Sepsis-induced acute kidney injury occurs in 20% to 50% of septic patients and nearly doubles the mortality rate of sepsis. Because treatment in the septic patient is usually begun only after the onset of symptoms, therapy that is effective even when delayed would have the greatest impact on patient survival. The metalloproteinase meprin A, an oligomeric complex made of α- and β-subunits, is highly expressed at the brush-border membranes of the kidney and capable of degrading numerous substrates including extracellular matrix proteins and cytokines. ⋯ Actinonin also prevented the fall in renal capillary perfusion even when administered at 7 h after CLP. In addition, even late administration of actinonin preserved renal morphology and lowered blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine concentrations. These data suggest that agents such as actinonin should be evaluated further as possible therapeutic agents because targeting both the early systemic and later organ-damaging effects of sepsis should have the highest likelihood of success.
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Sepsis is characterized by an excessive host response to infection. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are essential for triggering this type of host immune response. Toll-like receptor 4 mediates recognition of LPS from gram-negative bacteria and is an important initiator of sepsis. ⋯ Additionally, coadministration of TAK-242 with imipenem after CLP significantly inhibited CLP-induced decreases in blood platelet counts by 37% (P ≤ 0.025) and increases in serum levels of alanine aminotransferase by 32% (P ≤ 0.025) and blood urea nitrogen by 43% (P ≤ 0.025). TAK-242 at a dose of 10 mg/kg had no effect on bacterial counts in blood, suggesting that it does not affect blood bacteria spread. These results indicate that TAK-242 shows therapeutic effects in murine polymicrobial sepsis, and it may be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of sepsis.