Objectives: Sepsis is characterised by the frequent presence of organ failure and
marked immunologic alterations. We studied the association between the extent of organ failure
and the transcriptomic response of septic patients.
Methods: Gene expression profiles in the blood of 74 surgical patients with sepsis were compared with those of 30 surgical patients with no sepsis. Differentially expressed genes were assessed for their correlation with the sequential organ failure (SOFA) score.
Results: The expression levels of a group of genes participating in the cell cycle (HIST1H1C,
CKS2, CCNA2, CDK1, CCNB2, CIT, CCNB1, AURKA, RAD51), neutrophil protease activity (ELANE,
ADORA3, MPO, MMP8, CTSG), IL-1R and IL-18R response correlated directly with SOFA and mortality.
Genes involved in T cell (LCK, CD3G, CD3D, ZAP70, ICOS, CD3E, CD28, IL2RB, CD8B,
CD8A, CD40LG, IL23A, CCL5, SH2D1A, ITK, CD247, TBX21, GATA3, CCR7, LEF1, STAT4) and
NK cell immunity (CD244, KLRK1, KLRD1) were inversely associated with SOFA and mortality.
Conclusions: The extent of organ failure in sepsis correlates directly with the existence of
imbalanced innate and adaptive responses at the transcriptomic level. Quantification of the
expression levels of the genes identified here could contribute to the simultaneous assessment
of disease severity and immunological alterations in sepsis.
