OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of early antimicrobial therapy on the prognosis of patients with suspected sepsis in emergency and outpatient settings. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted. Patients with suspected sepsis admitted to the emergency department of Taizhou Hospital, Zhejiang Province, from May 1, 2022, to July 31, 2023, were enrolled. Participants were divided into an early group (0-1 hour) and a delayed group (> 1 hour) according to duration from admission to antimicrobial administration. General information, initial vital signs, laboratory parameters within 24 hours after admission, disease severity scores, vasoactive drug usage, and clinical outcomes of the patient were collected. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to analyze 28-day survival. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression was performed to identify independent risk factors for prognosis of the patients with suspected sepsis in emergency and outpatient settings. Sensitivity analyses were conducted through subgroup analyses. RESULTS: A total of 143 patients with suspected sepsis were enrolled in the analysis, with 66 patients in the early group and 77 in the delayed group. No statistically significant differences were observed in baseline characteristics (age, gender, vital signs, laboratory parameters, disease severity scores) or clinical outcomes [vasoactive drug usage rate, mechanical ventilation duration, length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, total hospitalization duration] between the two groups. The 28-day mortality, multidrug resistance rate and sepsis confirmation rate did not differ significantly between the early group and delay group [28-day mortality: 18.2% (12/66) vs. 20.8% (16/77), multidrug resistance rate: 3.0% (2/66) vs. 2.6% (2/77), sepsis confirmation rate: 87.9% (58/66) vs. 88.3% (68/77), all P > 0.05]. Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed no difference in 28-day cumulative survival between the two groups (Log-Rank test: χ² = 2.528, P = 0.112). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression identified vasoactive drug usage [hazard ration (HR) = 2.465, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 1.019-5.961, P = 0.045] and endotracheal intubation (HR = 5.516, 95%CI was 2.195-13.858, P < 0.001) as independent risk factors for 28-day death of the patients with suspected sepsis in emergency and outpatient settings. Further exploration of the impact of early antimicrobial therapy on 28-day death in different subgroups of the patients with suspected sepsis in emergency and outpatient settings was conducted through subgroup analysis. The results showed that in the patients with different ages (< 60 years old: HR = 1.214, 95%CI was 0.535-2.751, P = 0.643; ≥ 60 years old: HR = 2.085, 95%CI was 0.233-18.668, P = 0.511), sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores (< 6: HR = 1.411, 95%CI was 0.482-4.128, P = 0.530; ≥ 6: HR = 0.869, 95%CI was 0.292-2.587, P = 0.801), shock indexes (< 1: HR = 1.095, 95%CI was 0.390-3.077, P = 0.863; ≥ 1: HR = 1.364, 95%CI was 0.458-4.059, P = 0.577) and whether diagnosed with sepsis or not (yes: HR = 0.943, 95%CI was 0.059-15.091, P = 0.967; no: HR = 1.207, 95%CI was 0.554-2.628, P = 0.636) subgroups, early usage of antibiotics had not shown any advantage in improving prognosis compared with delayed usage. CONCLUSION Early antimicrobial therapy does not improve the prognosis of patients with suspected sepsis in emergency and outpatient settings.
Humans ; Sepsis/drug therapy* ; Prospective Studies ; Prognosis ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Outpatients ; Female ; Male ; Anti-Infective Agents/therapeutic use* ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: To identify and validate novel biomarkers for the early diagnosis of sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI) and precise continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) using proteomics. METHODS: A prospective multicenter cohort study was conducted. Patients with sepsis admitted to five hospitals in Taizhou City of Zhejiang Province from April 2019 to December 2021 were continuously enrolled, based on the occurrence of acute kidney injury (AKI). Sepsis patients were divided into SA-AKI group and non-SA-AKI group, and healthy individuals who underwent physical examinations during the same period were used as control (NC group). Peripheral blood samples from participants were collected for protein mass spectrometry analysis. Differentially expressed proteins were identified, and functional enrichment analysis was conducted on these proteins. The levels of target proteins were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the predictive value of target protein for SA-AKI were evaluated by receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve). Additionally, sepsis patients and healthy individuals were selected from one hospital to externally verify the expression level of the target protein and its predictive value for SA-AKI, as well as the accuracy of CRRT treatment. RESULTS: A total of 37 patients with sepsis (including 19 with AKI and 18 without AKI) and 31 healthy individuals were enrolled for proteomic analysis. Seven proteins were identified with significantly differential expression between the SA-AKI group and non-SA-AKI group: namely cystatin C (CST3), β ₂-microglobulin (β ₂M), insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 4 (IGFBP4), complement factor I (CFI), complement factor D (CFD), CD59, and glycoprotein prostaglandin D2 synthase (PTGDS). Functional enrichment analysis revealed that these proteins were involved in immune response, complement activation, coagulation cascade, and neutrophil degranulation. ELISA results demonstrated specific expression of each target protein in the SA-AKI group. Additionally, 65 patients with sepsis (38 with AKI and 27 without AKI) and 20 healthy individuals were selected for external validation of the 7 target proteins. ELISA results showed that there were statistically significant differences in the expression levels of CST3, β ₂M, IGFBP4, CFD, and CD59 between the SA-AKI group and non-SA-AKI group. ROC curve analysis indicated that the area under the curve (AUC) values of CST3, β ₂M, IGFBP4, CFD, and CD59 for predicting SA-AKI were 0.788, 0.723, 0.723, 0.795, and 0.836, respectively, all exceeding 0.7. Further analysis of patients who underwent CRRT or not revealed that IGFBP4 had a good predictive value, with an AUC of 0.84. CONCLUSIONS Based on proteomic analysis, CST3, β ₂M, IGFBP4, CFD, and CD59 may serve as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of SA-AKI, among which IGFBP4 might be a potential biomarker for predicting the need for CRRT in SA-AKI patients. However, further clinical validation is required.
Humans ; Sepsis/complications* ; Acute Kidney Injury/blood* ; Proteomics ; Prospective Studies ; Biomarkers/blood* ; Male ; Female ; beta 2-Microglobulin/blood* ; Middle Aged ; Cystatin C/blood* ; Aged

Sepsis is the main cause of infection death in intensive care unit(ICU),and thrombocytopenia is a common complication.Persistent thrombocytopenia is a marker of poor prognosis in critically ill patients.Sepsis-associated thrombocytopenia(SAT)involves a variety of pathophysiological mechanisms,and platelets play a key role in coagulation and inflammatory response.Platelet count(PLT)can not only predict the prognosis of patients with sepsis,but also be used as a therapeutic target to improve the success rate of rescue in patients with sepsis.This article will review the pathophysiological mechanism,prognosis and treatment of platelets in septic patients.

Objective:To evaluate the prognostic value of sepsis-induced coagulopathy (SIC) in patients with sepsis.Methods:From January 2019 to December 2021, patients with sepsis admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of our hospital were retrospectively classified into the SIC group and non-SIC group according to SIC diagnostic criteria. The baseline clinical data, severity score, total length of hospital stay, length of ICU stay and 28-day survival were compared between the two groups. Kaplan-Meier was used to compare the 28-day survival of patients with sepsis between the two groups. Cox proportional hazard regression model was employed to analyze the risk factors of prognosis in patients with sepsis.Results:Totally 274 patients with sepsis were included in the analysis, including 139 patients in the SIC group and 135 patients in the non-SIC group. The two groups were compared in the perspectives of the Platelet count (PLT), prothrombin time (PT) , procalcitonin (PCT), D dimer, hematocrit, red blood cell distribution width, hemoglobin, acute kidney injury (AKI), the use of continuous renal replacement treatment (CRRT), the use of vasoactive drugs, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHEⅡ) score were compared between the two groups and the difference were statistically different (all P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the 28-day mortality rate in the SIC group was significantly higher than that in the non-SIC group (32.4% vs. 14.1%, P<0.05). COX proportional hazard model showed that SIC score ( HR= 2.17, 95% CI: 1.15-3.91, P<0.05), APACHEⅡ score ( HR= 1.13, 95% CI: 1.09-1.17, P<0.05) and the use of vasoactive drugs ( HR=3.66, 95% CI: 1.53-8.75, P<0.05) were independent influencing factors for 28-day death in patients with sepsis. Conclusions:Patients with sepsis and SIC have more severe disease and increased mortality risk. SIC score exhibits good clinical value in predicting the prognosis of patients with sepsis.

Objective To analyze the protective effect of esmolol combined with early goal-directed therapy on myocardial function in patients with severe sepsis. Methods The clinical data of patients with severe sepsis who were treated in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. According to the principles of randomization, balance and control, 30 cases receiving esmolol combined with early goal-directed therapy were selected as the observation group. The other 30 cases who were given early goal-directed therapy during the same period were selected as the control group. The effects of the two treatment regimens on the levels of hemodynamic indices, cTnT, BNP, TNF-a, IL-1β, Lac, central venous oxygen saturation(ScvO2) and other indices were compared, and 28-day survival rate was statistically analyzed. Results After treatment, Ea/Aa in the observation group was increased significantly, and HRwas decreased significantly. Only HRwas decreased significantly in the control group. There was no statistically significant difference within groups and between the two groups in other hemodynamic indices (P＞0. 05); the levels of cTnT, BNP, TNF-a, and IL-1β in both groups were significantly decreased and the observation group was lower than the control group. The differences within groups and between groups were statistically significant; the serum Lac was decreased and ScvO2 was increased in both groups. The serum Lac in the observation group was lower than that in the control group, and ScvO2 was higher than that in the control group. There were statistically significant differences within groups and between groups (P＜0. 05); the survival rate in the observation group was slightly higher than that in the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant(χ2=0. 480, P=0. 488). Conclusion Esmolol combined with early goal-directed therapy may benefit myocardial protection in patients with severe sepsis.