Transcriptome analysis of six tissues obtained post-mortem from sepsis patients

Author(s)

Pinheiro da Silva, Fabiano ; Goncalves, Andre Nicolau Aquime ; Duarte-Neto, Amaro Nunes ; Dias, Thomaz Luescher ; Barbeiro, Hermes Vieira ; Breda, Cristiane Naffah Souza ; Breda, Leandro Carvalho Dantas ; Camara, Niels Olsen Saraiva ; Nakaya, Helder I.

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MEDICINE; v. N/A, p. 11-pg., 2023-09-20.

Abstract

Septic shock is a life-threatening clinical condition characterized by a robust immune inflammatory response to disseminated infection. Little is known about its impact on the transcriptome of distinct human tissues. To address this, we performed RNA sequencing of samples from the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, heart, lung, kidney and colon of seven individuals who succumbed to sepsis and seven uninfected controls. We identified that the lungs and colon were the most affected organs. While gene activation dominated, strong inhibitory signals were also detected, particularly in the lungs. We found that septic shock is an extremely heterogeneous disease, not only when different individuals are investigated, but also when comparing different tissues of the same patient. However, several pathways, such as respiratory electron transport and other metabolic functions, revealed distinctive alterations, providing evidence that tissue specificity is a hallmark of sepsis. Strikingly, we found evident signals of accelerated ageing in our sepsis population. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 20/03905-8 - Antimicrobial peptides and neuroinflammation: characterization of short and long term cell response
• Grantee: Fabiano Pinheiro da Silva
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants