THERAPEUTIC TARGETS FOR SEPSIS

Sepsis is the initial systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) associated with a confirmed infectious process. It is a spectrum of clinical conditions caused by the immune response of a host to severe infection (e.g., bacterial, fungal, viral, protozoal). To dote, treatment for sepsis consists of eradication of infection through early and aggressive treatment with appropriate antibacterial therapy. However, despite advances in the development of powerful antibiotics, sepsis is still life-threatening and the U.S. mortality rote per year remains unchanged from 2006 (approximately 750,000 cases/year). Due to the complex nature of the syndrome, successful treatment may require targeting multiple mechanisms. Thus, the search continues for effective treatment strategies for sepsis and investigators ore focusing on identifying novel targets and combinations of targets for therapeutic intervention. This article presents those drug targets that are currently under active investigation for the treatment of sepsis.