Surgery
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Autophagy plays distinct roles in apoptosis and the inflammatory process. Understanding the role of autophagy in sepsis-induced acute lung injury (ALI) may provide new insights into developing novel therapeutic strategies for this group of patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the regulation of autophagy in the septic lung and to use pharmacologic agents to modulate autophagy to study its functional significance. ⋯ The downregulation of autophagy may lead to systemic inflammation and ALI after sepsis. The direct or indirect modification of autophagy using rapamycin or APC, respectively, resulted in improved survival. Enhancing or restoring autophagy early after sepsis seems to be a potential strategy for the treatment of sepsis-induced ALI.