ArticleCritical care (London, England)2007
Inducibility of the endogenous antibiotic peptide beta-defensin 2 is impaired in patients with severe sepsis.
Article in Critical care (London, England), 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of humoral immunity proteins and mortality in sepsis.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of high-dose vitamin DNutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.) · 2017Trial
- The immunological benefit of higher dose N-acetyl cysteine following mechanical ventilation in critically ill patients.Daru : journal of Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences · 2014Trial
- Exploring the therapeutic potential of recombinant bovine β-defensins for antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory functions in sepsis management.Veterinary research · 2025Article
- Blood RNA biomarkers and a point-of-care elastase assay for detecting host immune activation in suspected sepsis: Trajectory matters.PloS one · 2025Article
- Antimicrobial Peptides in Early-Life Host Defense, Perinatal Infections, and Necrotizing Enterocolitis-An Update.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Review
- Dysregulation of human beta-defensin-3 expression in the peripheral blood of patients with sepsis.SAGE open medicine · 2021Article
- Beneficial effect of probiotics onInnate immunity · 2020Article
- The Understanding and Management of Organism Toxicity in Septic Shock.Journal of innate immunity · 2018Review
- Early type I Interferon response induces upregulation of human β-defensin 1 during acute HIV-1 infection.PloS one · 2017Article
- The microbiome and critical illness.The Lancet. Respiratory medicine · 2016Review
- Antimicrobial Peptides in Human Sepsis.Frontiers in immunology · 2015Review
- On the Functional Overlap between Complement and Anti-Microbial Peptides.Frontiers in immunology · 2014Review
- Defensins and sepsis.BioMed research international · 2014Review
- Antimicrobial peptides and their potential application in inflammation and sepsis.Critical care (London, England) · 2012Review
- Induction of Bim and Bid gene expression during accelerated apoptosis in severe sepsis.Critical care (London, England) · 2008Article
- Year in review 2007: Critical Care--multiple organ failure and sepsis.Critical care (London, England) · 2008Review
- Sepsis: links between pathogen sensing and organ damage.Current pharmaceutical design · 2008Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe potent endogenous antimicrobial peptide human beta-defensin 2 (hBD2) is a crucial mediator of innate immunity. In addition to direct antimicrobial properties, different effects on immune cells have been described. In contrast to the well-documented epithelial beta-defensin actions in local infections, little is known about the leukocyte-released hBD2 in systemic infectious disorders. This study investigated the basic expression levels and the ex vivo inducibility of hBD2 mRNA in peripheral whole blood cells from patients with severe sepsis in comparison to non-septic critically ill patients and healthy individuals.
methodsThis investigation was a prospective case-control study performed at a surgical intensive care unit at a university hospital. A total of 34 individuals were tested: 16 patients with severe sepsis, 9 critically ill but non-septic patients, and 9 healthy individuals. Serial blood samples were drawn from septic patients, and singular samples were obtained from critically ill non-septic patients and healthy controls. hBD2 mRNA levels in peripheral white blood cells were quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction in native peripheral blood cells and following ex vivo endotoxin stimulation. Defensin plasma levels were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
resultsEndotoxin-inducible hBD2 mRNA expression was significantly decreased in patients with severe sepsis compared to healthy controls and non-septic critically ill patients (0.02 versus 0.95 versus 0.52, p < 0.05, arbitrary units). hBD2 plasma levels in septic patients were significantly higher compared to healthy controls and critically ill non-septic patients (541 versus 339 versus 295 pg/ml, p < 0.05).
conclusionIn contrast to healthy individuals and critically ill non-septic patients, ex vivo inducibility of hBD2 in peripheral blood cells from septic patients is reduced. Impaired hBD2 inducibility may contribute to the complex immunological dysfunction in patients with severe sepsis.
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Registered trials
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