Case Control Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Sep 6, 2024; 12(25): 5681-5696
Published online Sep 6, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i25.5681
Differential expression of plasma cytokines in sepsis patients and their clinical implications
Hui-Xiu Liu, Yu-Ying Wang, Xue-Feng Yang
Hui-Xiu Liu, Interventional Diagnosis and Treatment Center, The Affiliated Second Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, Hunan Province, China
Yu-Ying Wang, Department of Emergency, The Shanghai Putuo District People's Hospital, Shanghai 200060, China
Yu-Ying Wang, Xue-Feng Yang, Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Nanhua Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang 421002, Hunan Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Yu-Ying Wang and Xue-Feng Yang.
Author contributions: Wang YY, Yang XF, and Liu HX participated in the study design, analyze the data, and drafted the manuscript; Wang YY collected the samples; All authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Supported by The Project of Hengyang Science and Technology Bureau, No. 202222035602.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Shanghai Putuo District People's Hospital (Approval No. 20220605).
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xue-Feng Yang, PhD, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Nanhua Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, No. 336 Dongfeng South Road, Zhuhui District, Hengyang 421002, Hunan Province, China. yxf9988@126.com
Received: March 8, 2024
Revised: May 25, 2024
Accepted: July 1, 2024
Published online: September 6, 2024
Processing time: 130 Days and 21.1 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Sepsis, which is characterized by acute systemic inflammation and is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality, presents a significant challenge in health care. Some scholars have found that the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) and quick SOFA scores are not ideal for predicting severe sepsis and mortality. Microbial culture takes a long time (2-3 d) and provides no information for early diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, new diagnostic methods for sepsis need to be explored.

AIM

To assess cytokine levels in the plasma of sepsis patients and identify potential biomarkers for diagnosing sepsis.

METHODS

Ten sepsis patients admitted to the emergency department within 24 h of onset were enrolled as the observation group, whereas ten noninfected patients served as the control group. Of the 10 noninfected patients, 9 hypertension combined with cerebral infarction, 1 patients with vertiginous syndrome. Plasma Cytokines were measured using the Bio-Plex Pro™ Human Chemokine Panel 40-plex. Differentially expressed cytokines in plasma of sepsis and nonsepsis patients were analyzed using Gene Ontology (GO) functional enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses.

RESULTS

Interleukin (IL)-16, granulocyte-macrophage granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), CX3CL1, CXCL9, CXCL16, CCL25, and CCL23 plasma levels were significantly increased in sepsis patients. GO analysis revealed that these cytokines were mainly associated with cellular structures such as intermediates, nuclear plaques, adhesion plaques, lateral plasma membranes, and cell matrix junctions. These genes were involved in various molecular functions, such as cytokine activity, receptor ligand activity, and signal receptor activator activity, contributing to various biological functions, such as leukocyte chemotaxis, migration, and chemotaxis. KEGG analysis indicated involvement in cytokine cytokine receptor interactions, chemokine signaling pathways, virus–protein interactions with cytokines and cytokine receptors, and the tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway.

CONCLUSION

Elevated serum levels of IL-16, GM-CSF, CX3CL1, CXCL9, CXCL16, CCL25, and CCL23 in sepsis patients suggest their potential as diagnostic biomarkers for sepsis.

Keywords: Sepsis; Cytokines; Biomarkers; Protein chip; Patients

Core Tip: Clinically, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) or quick SOFA (qSOFA) scores are often used to identify and diagnose sepsis. However, some scholars have found that qSOFA scores are not good at predicting severe sepsis and mortality. Therefore, it is necessary to explore a new diagnostic method for sepsis. In this study, changes in plasma cytokine levels in patients with sepsis were assessed. We found that the serum levels of the cytokines interleukin16, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, CX3CL1, CXCL9, CXCL16, CCL25 and CCL23 were significantly increased in patients with sepsis, representing potential diagnostic biomarkers of sepsis.