POTENTIAL ROLE OF IRON CHELATION IN EXPERIMENTAL SEPSIS

Abstract

Sepsis is a life-threatening medical condition characterized by a dysregulated immune response to an infection. The increasing incidence, remaining high mortality and enormous costs burden, make sepsis a real public health problem. Early appropriate treatment boosts chances of surviving sepsis, but there is no specific approved treatment for the dysregulated immune response available to date. However, some lifesaving measures are available. The main goal of sepsis treatment is to control the source of the infection, surgically and/or by using antibiotics. The fact that iron is a nutrient required for bacterial growth and involved in the immune response, makes it a potential therapeutic target for sepsis. The present research has been designed to study the effect of the novel, highly specific iron chelator, DIBI, in relevant experimental murine models of bacterial sepsis. It has been found that DIBI alone or in combination with antibiotic treatment was able to decrease sepsis-induced leukocyte (hyper-) activation, preserve capillary perfusion, and reduce bacterial growth. These results strongly suggest DIBI as a promising adjunct treatment for bacterial sepsis.