Septic patients and healthy controls
55 septic patients who met the clinical criteria for sepsis-3 [1]
were recruited on admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of The
Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between
October 2017 and March 2019. Clinical and demographic characteristics of
patients were collected, including age, gender, co-morbidities, white
blood cells (WBC), procalcitonin (PCT) and c-reaction protein (CRP),
Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APCHE) II score and
Sequential [Sepsis-related] Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score at
24 h on admission. During the follow-up, other parameters were also
recorded, such as microbiological findings, ventilation, use of
vasopressors, use of hydrocortisone, renal replacement therapy, length
of ICU stay, and mortality during the 28-day study period. Patients with
pregnancy or breast-feeding, malignancy, organ transplantation, human
immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) infection, viral hepatitis,
autoimmune diseases, and the use of immunosuppressive agents in the past
8 weeks were excluded. Peripheral blood was collected at the time of
patient admission, and serum was then isolated and stored at −80 ℃. 30
age- and sex- matched healthy control blood samples were taken from
healthy donors with no medical problems in the medical examination
center. Human studies were reviewed and approved by the Clinical
Research Ethics Committee of Chongqing Medical University (Registration
number: LLZM-2012-0016), and informed consent was obtained from all
participants according to the Declaration of Helsinki.