Lipogenesis In Sepsis Case Study

This research study looked at the role of lipogenesis in sepsis. Sepsis is a very serious condition in which a pathogen, bacterial, viral, or fungal, invades the bloodstream and triggers a high inflammatory response by the immune system. The body is unable to remove the pathogen which causes an overproduction of cytokines eventually leading to organ injury and death. As the third leading cause of death in the United States, Australia, and Asia, it is important to develop a treatment for sepsis.¹ The only drug approved by the FDA as treatment for sepsis was activated protein C, but it had adverse side effects, including severe bleeding.² In repeat studies, it also did not show a benefit and was withdrawn by the manufacturer.² The main treatment of sepsis are intravenous fluids, broad spectrum antibiotic therapy, and organ monitoring and support.¹׳² There have been difficulties finding therapies for sepsis because of the many different causative organisms, patient underlying health conditions, and patient immunity.
Several clinical studies have noticed a link between lipid metabolism and systemic inflammation. In septic shock, patients can have an abnormal lipid profile which may be due to de novo lipogenesis.¹ The liver …show more content…
The authors of this study hypothesized that administering C75 would inhibit lipogenesis and decrease the amount of inflammation and organ injury in sepsis. This study quantified the amount of fatty acid by measuring palmitic acid. Inflammation was measured by levels of cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 while organ injury was measured by markers alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). If C75 inhibits lipogenesis and shows decreased FFA levels, then use of C75 should show decreased cytokines and organ injury