Heat Shock Protein Responses In Septic Patients

Sepsis is a maladaptive inflammatory process in response to infectious agents, related to severe complications and poor outcomes. Despite advances, sepsis care remains a crucial challenge for intensive care units. The heat shock response during a septic process is primarily characterized by a dramatic upregulation of heat shock proteins (HSP), which are molecular chaperokines (intracellular chaperones and extracellular cytokines) exhibiting sophisticated protection mechanisms for living organisms. The main HSP representatives in sepsis are the heat shock proteins 70 and 90, which are ubiquitous chaperones with anti-apoptotic and immunomodulatory functions. The HSP family seems to create networks associated with a state of oxidative stress, capillary leak syndrome, immunoparalysis and with the hormonal changes occurring in sepsis.