Changes in the Serum Proteome of Patients with Sepsis and Septic Shock

In Brief BACKGROUND: Sepsis is still the leading cause of death in the intensive care unit. Our goal was to elucidate potential early differences in serum between survivors (SURV) and non-survivors (NON-SURV) on day 28. METHODS: We applied proteomic technology to serum samples of patients with sepsis and septic shock. Serum samples from 18 patients with sepsis and septic shock were obtained during the first 12 h after diagnosis of septic shock. Patients were grouped into SURV and NON-SURV on day 28. RESULTS: Seven patients survived and 11 patients died. Using proteome analysis, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis detected more than 200 spots per gel. A differential protein expression was discovered between SURV and NON-SURV, whereby protein alterations not yet described in sepsis were revealed. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that proteomic profiling is a useful approach for detecting protein expression dynamics in septic patients, and may bring us closer to achieving a comprehensive molecular profiling compared with genetic studies alone. IMPLICATIONS: Using a two-dimensional breakdown of proteins combined with mass spectrometry, we screened serum from patients with sepsis to elucidate possible differences between survivors and non-survivors. We found that the protein expression profiles of survivors and non-survivors differ at an early stage.