Jacob S, Jacob SA, Thoppil J. Targeting sepsis through inflammation and oxidative metabolism. World J Crit Care Med 2025; 14(1): 101499 [DOI: 10.5492/wjccm.v14.i1.101499]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Joby Thoppil, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd E6.110A, Dallas, TX 75390, United States. joby.thoppil@utsouthwestern.edu
Research Domain of This Article
Critical Care Medicine
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Crit Care Med. Mar 9, 2025; 14(1): 101499 Published online Mar 9, 2025. doi: 10.5492/wjccm.v14.i1.101499
Targeting sepsis through inflammation and oxidative metabolism
Salena Jacob, Sanjana Ann Jacob, Joby Thoppil
Salena Jacob, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33328, United States
Sanjana Ann Jacob, Dell School of Medicine, University of Texas at Austin Medical School, Austin, TX 78712, United States
Joby Thoppil, Emergency Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, United States
Author contributions: Jacob S, Jacob SA and Thoppil J worked together to review the literature and write the content of this review; Thoppil J did the major editing, wrote the discussion and conclusion.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We have no conflict of interests to report.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Joby Thoppil, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd E6.110A, Dallas, TX 75390, United States. joby.thoppil@utsouthwestern.edu
Received: September 16, 2024 Revised: October 22, 2024 Accepted: November 12, 2024 Published online: March 9, 2025 Processing time: 85 Days and 19.1 Hours
Abstract
Infection is a public health problem and represents a spectrum of disease that can result in sepsis and septic shock. Sepsis is characterized by a dysregulated immune response to infection. Septic shock is the most severe form of sepsis which leads to distributive shock and high mortality rates. There have been significant advances in sepsis management mainly focusing on early identification and therapy. However, complicating matters is the lack of reliable diagnostic tools and the poor specificity and sensitivity of existing scoring tools i.e., systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA), or quick SOFA. These limitations have underscored the modest progress in reducing sepsis-related mortality. This review will focus on novel therapeutics such as oxidative stress targets, cytokine modulation, endothelial cell modulation, etc., that are being conceptualized for the management of sepsis and septic shock.
Core Tip: The need for better diagnostic tests and treatments has been voiced for infectious diseases in general with a special emphasis on sepsis. The current state of sepsis treatment revolves around antibiotics and supportive measures. Understanding sepsis pathophysiology is crucial to identifying effective therapies to support the immune system, thereby preventing disease progression and organ dysfunction. Discovering novel strategies for immune augmentation may be the key to successfully treating sepsis. Moving forward, it is crucial to continue investigating the mechanisms of action of these therapeutics, conducting rigorous large-scale clinical trials, and refining treatment strategies to enhance sepsis outcomes.
