6533b860fe1ef96bd12c400d

RESEARCH PRODUCT

LPS role during sepsis : description of circulating LPS levels using mass spectrometry in a cohort of critically ill patients, and investigation of LDL apheresis as an alternative for extracorporeal removal .

subject

description

Lipopolysaccharide’s (LPS) metabolism is complex, and it is still not used as a consistent biomarker or therapeutic target during sepsis. We used a novel LPS quantification method, able to detect lipoprotein-associated LPS in plasma, using 3-hydroxy myristate (3HM), a specific compound. We measured the 3HM levels in a cohort of patients admitted to intensive care and healthy volunteers. Septic patients had higher levels of 3HM, as did non-survivors of sepsis. Substantial levels of 3HM were also found in healthy subjects, suggesting that LPS is tightly integrated with human metabolism. Then, we demonstrated that the adsorption of LDL (low density lipoproteins) lipoproteins by LDL apheresis reduces the circulating levels of LPS, in vitro in the plasma of septic subjects, but also in vivo in hypercholesterolemic patients. Overall, these results provide important information for the understanding of endotoxemia, and open therapeutic perspectives for extracorporeal treatment during sepsis.