Increased Levels of Soluble Vascular Endothelial Cadherin are Associated with Poor Outcome in Severe Sepsis
- 1 August 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of International Medical Research
- Vol. 38 (4), 1497-1506
- https://doi.org/10.1177/147323001003800433
Abstract
Endothelial cells are thought to play a key role in sepsis pathogenesis: vascular endothelial damage occurs in severe sepsis and multiple organ dysfunction. Soluble vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin) levels were investigated in a prospective study involving 28 consecutive critically ill patients with or without severe sepsis who were admitted to surgical intensive care; 13 healthy age-matched volunteers were included as controls. Soluble VE-cadherin levels increased significantly in patients with severe sepsis compared with ill patients without severe sepsis and healthy controls. There was a significant linear correlation between soluble VE-cadherin levels and illness severity scores. Soluble VE-cadherin levels were significantly higher in patients who died compared with survivors. In vitro cell culture showed that serum from patients with severe sepsis greatly decreased VE-cadherin staining at intercellular junctions and total VE-cadherin expression in human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells. These findings suggest that endothelial cells play an important role in the poor outcome of patients with severe sepsis.Keywords
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