Predictive Value of Serial Model of End-Stage Liver Disease Score Determination in Patients with Postcardiotomy Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

(1) Background: The use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in low cardiac output states after cardiac surgery may aid in patient recovery. However, in some patients, the clinical state may worsen, resulting in multiple organ failure and high mortality rates. In these circumstances, calculating a model of end-stage liver disease (MELD) score was shown to determine organ dysfunction and predicting mortality. (2) Methods: We evaluated whether serial MELD score determination increases mortality prediction in patients with postcardiotomy ECMO support. (3) Results: Statistically, a cutoff of a 2.5 MELD score increase within 48 h of ECMO initiation revealed an AUC of 0.722. Further, we found a significant association between hospital mortality and 48 h MELD increase (HR: 2.5, 95% CI: 1.33-4.75, p = 0.005) after adjustment for possible confounders. (4) Conclusions: Therefore, serial MELD score determinations on alternate days may be superior to single measurements in this special patient cohort.

Extracorporeal albumin dialysis in critically ill patients with liver failure: Comparison of four different devices-A retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND

Besides standard medical therapy and critical care monitoring, extracorporeal liver support may provide a therapeutic option in patients with liver failure. However, little is known about detoxification capabilities, efficacy, and efficiency among different devices.

METHODS

Retrospective single-center analysis of patients treated with extracorporeal albumin dialysis. Generalized Estimating Equations with robust variance estimator were used to account for repeated measurements of several cycles and devices per patient.

RESULTS

Between 2015 and 2021 n = 341 cycles in n = 96 patients were eligible for evaluation, thereof n = 54 (15.8%) treatments with Molecular Adsorbent Recirculating System, n = 64 (18.7%) with OpenAlbumin, n = 167 (48.8%) Advanced Organ Support treatments, and n = 56 (16.4%) using Single Pass Albumin Dialysis. Albumin dialysis resulted in significant bilirubin reduction without differences between the devices. However, ammonia levels only declined significantly in ADVOS and OPAL. First ECAD cycle was associated with highest percentage reduction in serum bilirubin. With the exception of SPAD all devices were able to remove the water-soluble substances creatinine and urea and stabilized metabolic dysfunction by increasing pH and negative base excess values. Platelets and fibrinogen levels frequently declined during treatment. Periprocedural bleeding and transfusion of red blood cells were common findings in these patients.

CONCLUSIONS

From this clinical perspective ADVOS and OPAL may provide higher reduction capabilities of liver solutes (i.e. bilirubin and ammonia) in comparison to MARS and SPAD. However, further prospective studies comparing the effectiveness of the devices to support liver impairment (i.e. bile acid clearance or albumin binding capacity) as well as markers of renal recovery are warranted.

Intraoperative Cell Savage, Infection and Organ Failure in Infective Endocarditis Patients-A Retrospective Single Center Evaluation

Surgery is indicated in about 50% of infective endocarditis patients, and bleeding or the transfusion of blood a common finding. The intraoperative use of cell salvage may reduce the perioperative transfusion requirement, but its use is limited in the underlying disease. In this retrospective study, we therefore evaluated n = 335 patients fulfilling the modified Duke criteria for infective endocarditis characterized by the use of intraoperative cell salvage with autologous blood retransfusion. Inflammation markers and organ dysfunction, including catecholamine dependency, were evaluated by using linear regression analysis. Between 2015 and 2020, 335 patients underwent surgery for left-sided heart valve endocarditis. Intraoperative cell salvage was used in 40.3% of the cases, especially in complex scenarios and reoperation. Intraoperative cell salvage significantly altered the white blood cell count after surgery. On average, leucocytes were 3.0 Gpt/L higher in patients with intraoperative cell salvage compared to patients without after adjustment for confounders (95% CI: 0.39-5.54). Although the difference in WBC was statistically significant, i.e., higher in the ICS group compared to the no-ICS group, this difference may be clinically unimportant. Organ dysfunction, including hemodynamic instability and lactate values, were comparable between groups. In conclusion, intraoperative cell salvage enhanced the re-transfusion of autologous blood, with minor effects on the postoperative course of inflammatory markers, but was not associated with increased hemodynamic instability or organ dysfunction in general. The restriction of intraoperative cell salvage in surgery for infective endocarditis should be re-evaluated, and more prospective data in this topic are needed.

Associations of Betatrophin/ANGPTL8 with Septic Dyslipidemia in Human Peritonitis: An Explorative Analysis

Sepsis is defined by life-threatening organ dysfunction mediated by the host’s response to infection. This can result in septic dyslipidemia, which is involved in the neutralization of pathogen-related lipids. Knowledge of the regulatory mechanisms of septic dyslipidemia is incomplete. The cytokine betatrophin/Angiopoietin-like protein 8 (ANGPTL8) plays a role in the regulation of triacylglyceride metabolism, though its function in septic dyslipidemia remains unknown. Sixty-six patients were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Circulating concentrations and adipose tissue (AT) mRNA expression of betatrophin/ANGPTL8 were studied in patients suffering from peritoneal sepsis. Insulin-resistant individuals and subjects without metabolic derangement/systemic inflammation were enrolled as controls. All underwent open abdominal surgery. Circulating betatrophin/ANGPTL8 was analyzed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and AT mRNA expression levels were assessed by real-time PCR. Standard laboratory analyses including lipid electrophoresis were evaluated. Sepsis patients showed pronounced septic dyslipidemia (p < 0.05 for all major lipid classes). Despite comparable betatrophin/ANGPTL8 mRNA expression in AT (p = 0.24), we found significantly increased circulating betatrophin/ANGPTL8 with septic dyslipidemia (p = 0.009). Expression levels of betatrophin/ANGPTL8 in AT correlated with circulating concentrations in both control groups (r = 0.61; p = 0.008 and r = 0.43; p = 0.034), while this association was undetectable in sepsis. After stratification, betatrophin/ANGPTL8 remained associated with hypertriacylglyceridemia (p < 0.05).

The liver in sepsis: molecular mechanism of liver failure and their potential for clinical translation

Liver failure is a life-threatening complication of infections restricting the host's response to infection. The pivotal role of the liver in metabolic, synthetic, and immunological pathways enforces limits the host's ability to control the immune response appropriately, making it vulnerable to ineffective pathogen resistance and tissue damage. Deregulated networks of liver diseases are gradually uncovered by high-throughput, single-cell resolved OMICS technologies visualizing an astonishing diversity of cell types and regulatory interaction driving tolerogenic signaling in health and inflammation in disease. Therefore, this review elucidates the effects of the dysregulated host response on the liver, consequences for the immune response, and possible avenues for personalized therapeutics.

Spatial quantification of clinical biomarker pharmacokinetics through deep learning-based segmentation and signal-oriented analysis of MSOT data

Although multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) significantly evolved over the last several years, there is a lack of quantitative methods for analysing this type of image data. Current analytical methods characterise the MSOT signal in manually defined regions of interest outlining selected tissue areas. These methods demand expert knowledge of the sample anatomy, are time consuming, highly subjective and prone to user bias. Here we present our fully automated open-source MSOT cluster analysis toolkit Mcat that was designed to overcome these shortcomings. It employs a deep learning-based approach for initial image segmentation followed by unsupervised machine learning to identify regions of similar signal kinetics. It provides an objective and automated approach to quantify the pharmacokinetics and extract the biodistribution of biomarkers from MSOT data. We exemplify our generally applicable analysis method by quantifying liver function in a preclinical sepsis model whilst highlighting the advantages of our new approach compared to the severe limitations of existing analysis procedures.

Causes of Death in the Seriously Injured -Why do Severely Injured Patients Die Today?

BACKGROUND

The leading cause of death among people under 45 years of age is trauma. However, there is little information from the last 10 years on the exact causes of death of seriously injured people after hospital admission in Germany. The aim of the study is to evaluate the data of a level I trauma centre from the last 10 years. The reliability of the data, frequency of the causes of death and correlations with the mechanism of injury as well as the confirmability of the data in the TraumaRegister DGU are to be investigated.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The University Hospital Jena data were analysed for 203 deceased trauma patients from accidental death between 2007 and 2017.

RESULTS

A clear determination of the cause of death is possible in about 85% of cases on the basis of hospital data. The most frequent cause of death of severely injured patients after admission to the hospital is traumatic brain injury (59.6%), followed by organ failure (17%), haemorrhage (14%) and other causes of death (9.4%). Verification using data from the TraumaRegister DGU is possible. There is a clear correlation between mechanism of injury and cause of death.

CONCLUSIONS

The cause of death is very often a subjective assessment of the recording doctor. In particular, there are difficulties with patients who die in the resuscitation room before further diagnosis. The most frequent cause of death today is traumatic brain injury. For future evaluations, the new information in the TraumaRegister DGU is helpful because the cause of death can only be partially derived from other registry data. The correlation between the type of accident and the cause of death could be used for preventive measures.

Drug triggered pruritus, rash, papules, and blisters - is AGEP a clash of an altered sphingolipid-metabolism and lysosomotropism of drugs accumulating in the skin?

Rash, photosensitivity, erythema multiforme, and the acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP) are relatively uncommon adverse reactions of drugs. To date, the etiology is not well understood and individual susceptibility still remains unknown. Amiodarone, chlorpromazine, amitriptyline, and trimipramine are classified lysosomotropic as well as photosensitizing, however, they fail to trigger rash and pruritic papules in all individuals. Lysosomotropism is a common charcteristic of various drugs, but independent of individuals. There is evidence that the individual ability to respond to external oxidative stress is crosslinked with the elongation of long-chain fatty acids to very long-chain fatty acids by ELOVLs. ELOVL6 and ELOVL7 are sensitive to ROS induced depletion of cellular NADPH and insufficient regeneration via the pentose phosphate pathway and mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation. Deficiency of NADPH in presence of lysosomotropic drugs promotes the synthesis of C16-ceramide in lysosomes and may contribute to emerging pruritic papules of AGEP. However, independently from a lysosomomotropic drug, severe depletion of ATP and NAD(P)H, e.g., by UV radiation or a potent photosensitizer can trigger likewise the collapse of the lysosomal transmembrane proton gradient resulting in lysosomal C16-ceramide synthesis and pruritic papules. This kind of papules are equally present in polymorphous light eruption (PMLE/PLE) and acne aestivalis (Mallorca acne). The suggested model of a compartmentalized ceramide metabolism provides a more sophisticated explanation of cutaneous drug adverse effects and the individual sensitivity to UV radiation. Parameters such as pKa and ClogP of the triggering drug, cutaneous fatty acid profile, and ceramide profile enables new concepts in risk assessment and scoring of AGEP as well as prophylaxis outcome.

Complement factor D is linked to platelet activation in human and rodent sepsis

BACKGROUND

The complement factor D (CFD) exerts a regulatory role during infection. However, its physiological function in coagulopathy and its impact on the course of an infection remains unclear.

MATERIALS

Wild-type and CFD-deficient mice (n = 91) were subjected to cecal ligation and puncture to induce sepsis. At several time points, markers of coagulation and the host-immune response were determined. Furthermore, in patients (n = 79) with sepsis or SIRS, CFD levels were related to clinical characteristics, use of antiplatelet drugs and outcome.

RESULTS

Septic CFD-deficient mice displayed higher TAT complexes (p = 0.02), impaired maximal clot firmness, but no relevant platelet drop and reduced GPIIb/IIIa surface expression on platelets (p = 0.03) compared to septic wild-type mice. In humans, higher CFD levels (non-survivors, 5.0 µg/ml to survivors, 3.6 µg/ml; p = 0.015) were associated with organ failure (SOFA score: r = 0.33; p = 0.003) and mortality (75% percentile, 61.1% to 25% percentile, 26.3%). CFD level was lower in patients with antiplatelet drugs (4.5-5.3 µg/ml) than in patients without.

CONCLUSION

In mice, CFD is linked to pronounced platelet activation, depicted by higher GPIIb/IIIa surface expression in wild-type mice. This might be of clinical importance since high CFD plasma concentrations were also associated with increased mortality in sepsis patients.

Use of IFNγ/IL10 Ratio for Stratification of Hydrocortisone Therapy in Patients With Septic Shock

Large clinical trials testing hydrocortisone therapy in septic shock have produced conflicting results. Subgroups may benefit of hydrocortisone treatment depending on their individual immune response. We performed an exploratory analysis of the database from the international randomized controlled clinical trial Corticosteroid Therapy of Septic Shock (CORTICUS) employing machine learning to a panel of 137 variables collected from the Berlin subcohort comprising 83 patients including demographic and clinical measures, organ failure scores, leukocyte counts and levels of circulating cytokines. The identified theranostic marker was validated against data from a cohort of the Hellenic Sepsis Study Group (HSSG) (n = 246), patients enrolled in the clinical trial of Sodium Selenite and Procalcitonin Guided Antimicrobial Therapy in Severe Sepsis (SISPCT, n = 118), and another, smaller clinical trial (Crossover study, n = 20). In addition, in vitro blood culture experiments and in vivo experiments in mouse models were performed to assess biological plausibility. A low serum IFNγ/IL10 ratio predicted increased survival in the hydrocortisone group whereas a high ratio predicted better survival in the placebo group. Using this marker for a decision rule, we applied it to three validation sets and observed the same trend. Experimental studies in vitro revealed that IFNγ/IL10 was negatively associated with the load of (heat inactivated) pathogens in spiked human blood and in septic mouse models. Accordingly, an in silico analysis of published IFNγ and IL10 values in bacteremic and non-bacteremic patients with the Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome supported this association between the ratio and pathogen burden. We propose IFNγ/IL10 as a molecular marker supporting the decision to administer hydrocortisone to patients in septic shock. Prospective clinical studies are necessary and standard operating procedures need to be implemented, particularly to define a generic threshold. If confirmed, IFNγ/IL10 may become a suitable theranostic marker for an urging clinical need.

Drugs, Metabolites, and Lung Accumulating Small Lysosomotropic Molecules: Multiple Targeting Impedes SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Progress to COVID-19

Lysosomotropism is a biological characteristic of small molecules, independently present of their intrinsic pharmacological effects. Lysosomotropic compounds, in general, affect various targets, such as lipid second messengers originating from lysosomal enzymes promoting endothelial stress response in systemic inflammation; inflammatory messengers, such as IL-6; and cathepsin L-dependent viral entry into host cells. This heterogeneous group of drugs and active metabolites comprise various promising candidates with more favorable drug profiles than initially considered (hydroxy) chloroquine in prophylaxis and treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections/Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and cytokine release syndrome (CRS) triggered by bacterial or viral infections. In this hypothesis, we discuss the possible relationships among lysosomotropism, enrichment in lysosomes of pulmonary tissue, SARS-CoV-2 infection, and transition to COVID-19. Moreover, we deduce further suitable approved drugs and active metabolites based with a more favorable drug profile on rational eligibility criteria, including readily available over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. Benefits to patients already receiving lysosomotropic drugs for other pre-existing conditions underline their vital clinical relevance in the current SARS-CoV2/COVID-19 pandemic.

Targeting Complement C5a Receptor 1 for the Treatment of Immunosuppression in Sepsis

Complement factor C5a was originally identified as a powerful promoter of inflammation through activation of the C5a receptor 1 (C5ar1). Recent evidence suggests involvement of C5a not only in pro- but also in anti-inflammatory signaling. The present study aims to unveil the role of C5ar1 as potential therapeutic target in a murine sepsis model. Our study discloses a significantly increased survival in models of mild to moderate but not severe sepsis of C5ar1-deficient mice. The decreased mortality of C5ar1-deficient mice is accompanied by improved pathogen clearance and largely preserved liver function. C5ar1-deficient mice exhibited a significantly increased production of the pro-inflammatory mediator interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and a decreased production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10). Together, these data uncover C5a signaling as a mediator of immunosuppressive processes during sepsis and describe the C5ar1 and related changes of the IFN-γ to IL-10 ratio as markers for the immunological (dys)function accompanying sepsis.

Association between high dose catecholamine support and liver dysfunction following cardiac surgery

BACKGROUND

Cardiac surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass is a well-established procedure. However, up to 20% to 30% of patients require high dose vasopressor or inotropic support following surgery, enhancing the risk of organ dysfunction and impacting mortality. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a frequent finding in these patients and may be involved in the pathophysiology of vasoplegia and cardiac failure.

METHODS

Retrospective analysis of 463 patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery in 2014 at our institution. NAFLD was defined using the NAFLD fibrosis score and the vasoactive-inotropy score was used to determine postoperative vasopressor and inotropic dependency.

RESULTS

Patients with NAFLD more often presented with high vasopressor or inotropic support compared to patients without NAFLD, resulting in significant differences after 6 hours (n = 20 [27.0%] of 74 patients), 12 hours (n = 20 [27.0%] of 74 patients), and on the first postoperative day (n = 12 [16.4%] of 73 patients) of intensive care unit (ICU) treatment. Multivariate analysis revealed time of catecholamine application (P = .001), preoperative left ventricular ejection fraction (P = .001), type of surgery (P = .001), model of endstage liver disease on hospital admission (P = .002), pre-existing pulmonary hypertension (P = .004) and NAFLD-time interaction (P = .05) as independent predictors of high vasopressor and inotropic support. Patients with NAFLD had higher degrees of extrahepatic organ dysfunction, were more dependent on hemodialysis, spent more days in the ICU and within the hospital. Patients with NAFLD and high catecholamine support had the highest mortality rates among the study population.

CONCLUSIONS

NAFLD is a common finding in elective cardiac surgery patients. Anesthesiologists and intensivists should be sensitive for the specific risk profile of this population.

Distinct different contributions of the alternative and classical complement activation pathway for the innate host response during sepsis

Complement activation represents a crucial innate defense mechanism to invading microorganisms, but there is an eminent lack of understanding of the separate contribution of the different complement activation pathways to the host response during sepsis. We therefore investigated different innate host immune responses during cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis in mice lacking either the alternative (fD(-/-)) or classical (C1q(-/-)) complement activation pathway. Both knockout mice strains showed a significantly reduced survival and increased organ dysfunction when compared with control mice. Surprisingly, fD(-/-) mice demonstrated a compensated bacterial clearance capacity as control mice at 6 h post CLP, whereas C1q(-/-) mice were already overwhelmed by bacterial growth at this time point. Interestingly, at 24 h after CLP, fD(-/-) mice failed to clear bacteria in a way comparable to control mice. However, both knockout mice strains showed compromised C3 cleavage during sepsis. Investigating potential causes for this discrepancy, we were able to demonstrate that despite normal bacterial clearance capacity early during the onset of sepsis, fD(-/-) mice displayed increased inflammatory cytokine generation and neutrophil recruitment into lungs and blood when compared with both control- and C1q(-/-) mice, indicating a potential loss of control over these immune responses. Further in vitro experiments revealed a strongly increased Nf-κB activation capacity in isolated neutrophils from fD(-/-) mice, supporting this hypothesis. Our results provide evidence for the new concept that the alternative complement activation pathway exerts a distinctly different contribution to the innate host response during sepsis when compared with the classical pathway.