Targeting sepsis through inflammation and oxidative metabolism.

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.