Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0243026 (sepsis)
 52,417 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Gram-negative bacterial sepsis is frequently associated with acute renal failure but the specific effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and other bacterial products on kidney function are not known. Since either LPS or formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP)--a chemotactic peptide from bacterial cell walls--activate neutrophils (PMN) to release a number of potentially toxic factors in vitro, we determined the effect of adding PMN with LPS and/or FMLP to isolated perfused rat kidneys. Isolated rat kidneys perfused with LPS alone or LPS and normal PMN had normal glomerular filtration rates (GFR) and tubular Na reabsorption (TNa). Kidneys perfused with FMLP alone or FMLP and normal PMN also had normal GFR and TNa. In contrast, addition of PMN with both FMLP and LPS caused progressive renal dysfunction. For example, after 60 minutes of perfusion, GFR was reduced from 610 +/- 31 to 147 +/- 17 microliters/min/g and TNa from 97 +/- 1 to 72 +/- 2%, both P less than 0.01. Perfusion with the O2 metabolite scavengers catalase or dimethylthiourea afforded no protection while perfusion with the neutrophil elastase inhibitor Eglin C conferred substantial, but not complete, protection: GFR 492 +/- 34 microliters/min/g; TNa 91 +/- 3%. However, perfusion with both Eglin C and catalase completely prevented the toxic effects of LPS and FMLP-treated PMN on renal function. We conclude that in isolated kidneys, 1) the toxic effects of LPS requires FMLP-treated PMN and that 2) LPS and FMLP treated PMN cause progressive renal injury which is mediated by both O2 metabolites and neutrophil elastase.
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PMID:Role of neutrophil derived oxidants and elastase in lipopolysaccharide-mediated renal injury. 205 18

Neutrophils are activated during sepsis. To find out whether granulocytes are further activated during hemodialysis with cellulosic and noncellulosic membranes, we compared the plasma levels of the main granulocyte components in patients with chronic uremia who were undergoing regular hemodialysis treatment and patients with acute renal failure with and without sepsis. During hemodialysis with cuprophane dialyzers, plasma-granulocyte elastase, in complex with alpha-proteinase inhibitor, and lactoferrin levels increased in patients who were undergoing regular hemodialysis treatment, but these levels increased further in patients with acute renal failure who did not have sepsis. Maximal neutrophil degranulation was observed in patients with acute renal failure and sepsis. There was only mild degranulation in all three groups during dialysis with dialyzers made of polysulfone. Our data demonstrate that neutrophil activation is increased in patients with acute renal failure, and it is increased further by superimposed sepsis. Cellulose-containing dialysis membranes introduce a further activation of neutrophils.
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PMID:Neutrophil activation in acute renal failure and sepsis. 233 Dec 24

In human blood, cortisol is transported by a plasma protein known as corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG). As anticipated from primary structure comparisons of CBG and alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor (A1-PI), CBG acts as a substrate for neutrophil elastase. However, unlike A1-PI, CBG does not alter the activity of this enzyme, but is cleaved by it at a single location close to its carboxy-terminus, and this reduces its molecular size by 5 kDa with the concomitant release of more than 80% of CBG-bound cortisol. Three small molecular size fragments are detected after elastase cleavage, and carbohydrate analysis of these fragments suggests that they represent the same polypeptide fragment which has been differentially glycosylated. To assess the biological significance of these observations, CBG was incubated with either mononuclear cells or granulocytes obtained from patients with acute inflammation (sepsis) and from a normal volunteer. Only granulocytes from septic patients reduced the mol wt of CBG by about 5 kDa and destroyed its steroid-binding activity. Preincubation with A1-PI prevented this, which demonstrates that neutrophil elastase plays a key role in this event. These results suggest a physiological role for CBG in the delivery of cortisol to sites of inflammation.
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PMID:A role for corticosteroid-binding globulin in delivery of cortisol to activated neutrophils. 237 Feb 99

Plasma from 7 septic patients with positive blood cultures were studied. None of them presented either clinical or laboratory evidence of Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation. The white cells count varied between 5 and 45 X 10(9)/l. In plasma functional plasminogen levels varied between 25 and 45%, while those of alpha 2-antiplasmin were normal (80-105%). The levels of elastase ranged between 250 and 750 micrograms/ml. Leukocyte elastase digests plasminogen "in vitro" and is able to produce several fragments; one of them called mini-plasminogen lacking lysine binding sites; therefore it does not bind to lysine-Sepharose 4B. Two different behaviors were observed in the plasmatic plasminogen of these patients with respect to their binding capacity to lysine-Sepharose 4 B. 3 patients had plasminogen which did not bind to lysine-Sepharose 4 B; the other 4 had two different components, one of which bound to lysine-Sepharose 4 B and another one which did not bind. Previous studies "in vitro" have shown that leukocyte elastase modifies alpha 2-antiplasmin, initially producing a non-plasminogen binding form. A free alpha 2-antiplasmin (non-plasminogen binding form) was detected in the plasma of these patients with sepsis by crossed immunoelectrophoresis with plasminogen in the first dimension. It seems tenable that high levels of leukocyte elastase could be responsible for these findings although, the possible relationships to leukocyte elastase still remain to be proven but could possibly explain this effect.
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PMID:Mini-plasminogen like molecule in septic patients. 244 46

Of 64 polytraumatized patients with a mean injury severity score of 33.1, 42 showed marked systemic release of thromboxane B2 and granulocyte elastase during the initial 18 hours after trauma, reaching peak arterial levels of greater than 1,000 pg/ml and ng/ml, respectively. If those patients ("responders": plasma TXB2 greater than 250 pg/ml) were compared with the remaining 22 ("non-responders": TXB2 less than 250 pg/ml) the following became obvious: "Late" mortality (greater than 3 d) was 31% in responders, which is significantly higher than in non-responders (9%). No correlation was observed between "early" mortality (less than 3 d) and mediator release. There was no difference in the incidence of the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (38% versus 32%) or the late sepsis syndrome (17% versus 18%) between responders and non-responders. Morbidity, however, differed markedly in that ARDS in responders was associated with significantly higher elastase levels, a higher mortality and 10 times higher incidence of sepsis as compared to responders without ARDS. ARDS in non-responders, by contrast, did not change elastase maxima or the mortality rate as compared to non-responders without ARDS. It is concluded that TXB2 is not a predictor of posttraumatic ARDS, but is related to a complicated course, in particular to sepsis and mortality. Elastase with high probability predicts ARDS and/or the late sepsis syndrome. Simultaneous determination of TXB2 further enhances the predictive value of elastase.
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PMID:[Thromboxane A2 and granulocyte elastase after severe trauma--relationship to complications and survival rates]. 260 65

Acute respiratory failure is a common complication in patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation associated with sepsis. To elucidate the role of coagulation abnormalities in acute lung injury in sepsis, we investigated the effect of anticoagulants on the pulmonary vascular injury in rat induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). When administered intravenously, LPS (5 mg/kg body weight) significantly increased the accumulation of 111indium-labeled neutrophils in lung 30 min after administration. Subsequently, the pulmonary vascular permeability and the serum level of fibrin and fibrinogen degradation products (E) [FDP (E)] increased and remained elevated for several hours. Neither heparin alone, heparin plus antithrombin III, or dansyl-Glu-Gly-Arg-chloromethyl ketone-treated factor Xa, a selective inhibitor of thrombin generation, prevented LPS-induced vascular injury 6 hours after LPS administration, whereas these substances significantly inhibited the increase in serum FDP (E) at that time. LPS-induced pulmonary vascular injury was significantly attenuated in rats with methotrexate-induced leukocytopenia or treated with ONO-5046, a potent granulocyte elastase inhibitor, although ONO-5046 did not inhibit the LPS-induced increase in serum FDP (E). Thus, activated leukocytes play a more important role than coagulation abnormalities in the pathogenesis of LPS-induced pulmonary vascular injury in an experimental rat model of endotoxemia.
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PMID:Endotoxin-induced pulmonary vascular injury is mainly mediated by activated neutrophils in rats. 748 29

The fact that thrombomodulin (TM) is released into the bloodstream from damaged vascular endothelial cells led us to hypothesize that plasma levels of soluble TM could be an indicator of the development of organ failure. In this study, we examined the changes in plasma levels of TM in 60 septic patients and 13 postsurgical patients, and investigated the circulating levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and polymorphonuclear leukocyte elastase (PMN-E) to determine the mechanism causing the excess liberation of TM. The arterial ketone body ratio (AKBR) was also measured as an indicator of the hepatocyte energy state. Of the 60 septic patients, 26 developed organ failure, 10 of whom died. In contrast, none of the postsurgical patients developed organ failure. The mean plasma level of TM was significantly higher in the septic patients who developed organ failure compared to those without organ failure (P < 0.001) or the postsurgical patients (P < 0.001). Furthermore, those patients whose plasma TM values became elevated over 6.0 ng/ml frequently developed complications. A positive correlation was also observed between the plasma TM levels and the IL-6 (P < 0.01) and PMN-E levels (P < 0.01). In contrast, a negative correlation was seen between the plasma TM levels and the AKBR (P < 0.01). These findings show that plasma TM could be a useful indicator of impending organ failure during sepsis.
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PMID:Increased plasma levels of soluble thrombomodulin in patients with sepsis and organ failure. 754 68

Previous studies investigated the effects of neutrophil elastase on isolated factors in the hemostatic process. Some of these reported effects are, however, procoagulative and others anticoagulative. The aim of this study was to ascertain the effect of elastase on the in vivo hemostatic competency. The effect of elastase activity on the hemostatic competency was determined in a group of 50 surgical intensive care unit patients and 23 control subjects. Surgical intensive care unit patients were subgrouped into a surgery, a trauma, and a sepsis-multiple organ failure group. Elastase activity was assessed by elastase-alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor levels and hemostatic competency by thromboelastography. Thromboelastography results showed a relatively normal coagulative ability in the surgery group, a varying degree of thromboelastographic hypocoagulability in the trauma group, and pronounced thromboelastographic instability in the sepsis-multiple organ failure group. Increases in elastase-alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor levels up to 200 micrograms/L were accompanied by a compromised coagulative ability as seen in a prolongation of both the first and second phases of the clotting time, as well as a decrease in the maximal clot elasticity.
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PMID:Hemostatic competency and elastase-alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor levels in surgery, trauma, and sepsis. 767 12

Ecotin, a serine protease inhibitor found in the periplasm of Escherichia coli, has been characterized as a potent reversible tight-binding inhibitor of the human contact activation proteases factor XIIa (FXIIa) and plasma kallikrein, having Ki values of 89 pM and 163 pM, respectively. Ecotin also inhibited human leukocyte elastase (HLE) with high affinity (Ki = 55 pM). The association rate constants kon for FXIIa and kallikrein were 5.3 x 10(5) M-1.s-1 and 2.9 x 10(5) M-1.s-1, respectively. The dissociation rate constant koff for kallikrein, measured in the presence of HLE to prevent reassociation, was 6.3 x 10(-5) s-1; the koff for ecotin with FXIIa was 4.7 x 10(-5) s-1. Both FXIIa and kallikrein cleaved ecotin slowly at pH 5.0, identifying Met-84 as the P1 residue. The potent anticoagulant effect by ecotin is explained by the coincident inhibition of FXIIa, kallikrein, and FXa and suggests that it may be useful in the study of inflammatory or thrombotic disorders such as sepsis or cardiopulmonary bypass.
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PMID:Ecotin is a potent inhibitor of the contact system proteases factor XIIa and plasma kallikrein. 778 71

There is increasing evidence that the hypercortisolemia in inflammatory diseases suppresses the elaboration of proinflammatory cytokines, thus protecting the host from its own defence reactions. In severe sepsis and septic shock cortisol levels are usually elevated, but some patients may have relative adrenal insufficiency. This may contribute to the overwhelming systemic inflammatory response syndrome. We evaluated the impact of low-dose hydrocortisone infusion (10 mg/h) on the course of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome. This dose corresponds to a maximum secretory rate of cortisol achieved in corticotropin-stimulated healthy humans. In a prospective observational study 57 surgical patients with severe sepsis or septic shock were studied, of which in addition to the conventional treatment 12 patients were infused with low-dose hydrocortisone, and 45 were treated without any corticosteroid. In the longitudinal analysis the systemic inflammatory response--as judged by body temperature, cardiovascular response, and kinetics of inflammatory mediators such as phospholipase A2, C-reactive protein, and neutrophil elastase--started to differ in favor of the hydrocortisone-treated patients after 2 days of treatment (P < 0.05, Mann-Whitney U test). The difference disappeared after withdrawal of exogenous cortisol. Shock reversal was achieved in all patients treated with low-dose hydrocortisone. The data provide evidence that low-dose hydrocortisone infusion attenuates the systemic inflammatory response in human septic shock. From an immunological point of view a relative cortisol deficiency may contribute to the amplified immune response in systemic inflammatory diseases. A randomized clinical trial must clarify the impact of low-dose hydrocortisone infusion on the clinical course and outcome of septic shock patients.
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PMID:Low-dose hydrocortisone infusion attenuates the systemic inflammatory response syndrome. The Phospholipase A2 Study Group. 786 82


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