Phospholipids and their inhibitors: a critical evaluation of their role in the treatment of sepsis.

OBJECTIVE

The clinical condition sepsis and its sequelae are caused by numerous mediators that are released by various cell types. The purpose of this review is to describe the results of various studies performed with agents that either inhibited or stimulated the synthesis of, or affected the receptor-binding characteristics of a specific class of these mediators, the phospholipids.

DESIGN

Antagonists to platelet-activating factor and thromboxane A2 receptors, monoclonal antibodies to phospholipase A2, agents which increased levels of prostaglandins, and cyclooxygenase, lipoxygenase, and other specific pathway inhibitors, which block the production of leukotrienes and thromboxane A2, were used in the studies described to affect the physiologic correlates of sepsis animal models and human studies.

DATA SOURCES

The matters discussed in this paper come from a wide variety of sources, including many broad-based clinical studies of humans with inflammatory disease. Many animal studies are discussed, along with some in vitro cell culture studies and work in molecular genetics.

STUDY SELECTION

This article reviews a subject that is rapidly evolving, with frequent discoveries. Thus, much of the article discusses research in basic science, particularly the use of experimental drugs in animals. Clinical studies are generally of large numbers of patients showing overt signs of sepsis.

DATA EXTRACTION

Most cited literature was found in reputable, peer review journals, including such major basic science journals as Science, and clinical journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, and Critical Care Medicine.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Occasionally, contradictions do occur in the results of various studies. These contradictions are discussed in this review, and may often be due to the use of different protocols and definitions of the various clinical states.

CONCLUSIONS

Increases of some mediators, such as platelet-activating factor, thromboxane A2, and the leukotrienes are associated with animal models of sepsis and seem to have a negative effect on the course of sepsis. Antagonists and blockers of these mediators increased survival in these studies. More research is needed to identify how these mediators of inflammation are associated with sepsis, and what the effects of blocking their actions will have on sepsis.