Bacteria might induce severe infections, especially through the production of toxins that exert noxious effects upon human health by triggering inflammation. These toxins can be eliminated by the human organism, especially through circulating lipoproteins, the particles in charge of cholesterol transport in the blood. We have previously demonstrated that the phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) enabled to enhance bacterial toxin removal and was protective upon sepsis induced mortality in animal models. We have demonstrated that this protein was associated with bacterial toxin concentration during cardiac surgery in humans. In the present study, we aim to explore whethehr genetic modifications of the gene that code for this protein are associated with the occurence of sepsis and sepsis induced mortality in order to further validate our hypothesis.
This work is an essential step toward the identification of new markers and the developement of therapeutics centered on this detoxification pathway to treat sepsis.
