Journal of proteome research
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Sepsis is commonly caused by community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and may develop into severe sepsis, characterized by multiple organ failure. The risk of severe sepsis among CAP patients and subsequent mortality increases sharply after the age of 65. The molecular mechanisms associated with this age-related risk are not fully understood. ⋯ In total, 772 proteins were identified, of which 58 proteins exhibit statistically significant differences in expression levels among patients with severe sepsis as a function of age. Differentially expressed proteins are involved in pathways such as acute phase response, coagulation signaling, atherosclerosis signaling, lipid metabolism, and production of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species. This study provides insight into factors that may explain age-related differences in incidence of severe sepsis in the elderly.
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Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains a significant hazard to human health and is clinically challenging because there are no prognostic biomarkers and no effective pharmacotherapy. The lung compartment metabolome may detail the status of the local environment that could be useful in ARDS biomarker discovery and the identification of drug target opportunities. However, neither the utility of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) as a biofluid for metabolomics nor the optimal analytical platform for metabolite identification is established. ⋯ Following confirmation of metabolite identification, statistical analysis resulted in 37 differentiating metabolites in the BALF of ARDS compared with health across both analytical platforms. Pathway analysis revealed networks associated with amino acid metabolism, glycolysis and gluconeogenesis, fatty acid biosynthesis, phospholipids, and purine metabolism in the ARDS BALF. The complementary analytical platforms of RPLC and HILIC-LC generated informative, insightful metabolomics data of the ARDS lung environment.