Biomarkers of sepsis

Sepsis is an unusual systemic reaction to what is sometimes an otherwise ordinary infection, and it probably represents a pattern of response by the immune system to injury. A hyper-inflammatory response is followed by an immunosuppressive phase during which multiple organ dysfunction is present and the patient is susceptible to nosocomial infection. Biomarkers to diagnose sepsis may allow early intervention which, although primarily supportive, can reduce the risk of death. Although lactate is currently the most commonly used biomarker to identify sepsis, other biomarkers may help to enhance lactate's effectiveness; these include markers of the hyper-inflammatory phase of sepsis, such as pro-inflammatory…