Articles: function.
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Critical care medicine · Nov 2015
Therapeutic Potential of Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Peritonitis Induced by Polymicrobial Insult in Sprague-Dawley Rats.
Peritonitis is a life-threatening disease that is associated with high mortality. The purpose of this study was to determine if cerium oxide nanoparticles can be used to diminish intra-abdominal infection-induced mortality and systemic inflammatory response syndrome in the laboratory rat. ⋯ Cerium oxide nanoparticles attenuate the systemic inflammatory response associated with peritonitis, suggesting potential use as a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of severe intra-abdominal infection.
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Critical care medicine · Nov 2015
Comparative StudyCorticosteroid Therapy Benefits Septic Mice With Adrenal Insufficiency But Harms Septic Mice Without Adrenal Insufficiency.
Corticosteroid therapy is frequently used in septic patients given the rationale that there is an increased demand for corticosteroid in sepsis, and up to 60% of severe septic patients experience adrenal insufficiency. However, the efficacy of corticosteroid therapy and whether the therapy should be based on the results of adrenal function testing are highly controversial. The lack of an adrenal insufficiency animal model and our poor understanding of the pathogenesis caused by adrenal insufficiency present significant barriers to address this long-standing clinical issue. ⋯ This study demonstrates that corticosteroid treatment benefits mice with adrenal insufficiency but harms mice without adrenal insufficiency. This study also reveals that inducible corticosteroid has both immunosuppressive and immunopermissive properties, suppressing interleukin-6 production, promoting phagocytosis of immune effector cells, but not inducing peripheral lymphocyte apoptosis. These findings support our hypothesis that corticosteroid is an effective therapy for a subgroup of septic patients with adrenal insufficiency but harms septic patients without adrenal insufficiency and encourage further efforts to test this hypothesis in clinic.