Sepsis is a life threatening complication during infections that occurs when the immune system is unable to gain control of the infection-causing microorganism. Afterwards, the immune system of many sepsis patients (30%-40%) becomes compromised. This can continue for several weeks to several months. As a result, the immune system can no longer respond to new infections, and sepsis patients have a high risk of additional complications and death due to a second infection. In an article that was published in the journal Cell, the molecular biologist Henk Stunnenberg of Radboud University, in cooperation with internist-infectiologist Mihai Netea and other colleagues at Radboudumc, shows that this immune paralysis can be reversed. This is good news for sepsis patients, for whom treatments are currently lacking in efficiency.
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Failure of the immune system during blood poisoning (sepsis) can be reversed by a specific sugar. This restores the ability of immune cells to respond effectively to infections. This week, researchers from Radboud University and Radboudumc published an article on this topic in Cell. These insights can lead to improved treatment of sepsis.