Crossroads in Sepsis Research” review series overview of the pathophysiology of sepsis

Sepsis is a life-threatening clinical syndrome that arises through the innate response to infection [1], and can appear as a compli-cation of trauma, cancer or major elective surgery [2]. Despite great strides being made in understanding the pathophysiology and designing treatment for this disease, mortality rates still remain unacceptably high. Currently, sepsis rivals myocardial infarction as a common and potentially reversible cause of mortal-ity in the developed world. At least 8,000,000 people develop this syndrome in the United States alone, and one-quarter of these die within 28 days of its onset. It is, therefore, of great importance to advance our understanding and hopefully find appropriate therapy for this major, and increasingly frequent medical problem. The pathogenesis of sepsis and its accompanying systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) reflect the inability of the body to regulate the immune response [3] (Fig. 1). Sepsis initiate