Biochimie
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Systemic inflammation plays a pivotal role in a multitude of conditions, including sepsis, trauma, major surgery and burns. However, comprehensive analysis of the pathophysiology underlying this systemic inflammatory response is greatly complicated by variations in the immune response observed in critically ill patients, which is a result of inter-individual differences in comorbidity, comedication, source of infection, causative pathogen, and onset of the inflammatory response. ⋯ As such, the experimental human endotoxemia model does not share the aforementioned clinical limitations and enables us to investigate both the mechanisms of systemic inflammation, as well as to evaluate novel (pharmacological) interventions in humans in vivo. The present review provides a detailed overview of the various designs, organ-specific changes, and strengths and limitations of the experimental human endotoxemia model, with the main focus on its use as a translational model for sepsis research.