North Trent Critical Care Network

Written by Critical Care The interesting study by Davis et al. in a recent issue of Critical Care expands on the increasingly recognized role of angiopoietins (ang's) in human sepsis but raises a number of questions, discussed in this commentary. The authors describe an association between elevated ang-2 levels and impaired vascular reactivity, measured by the partly nitric oxide (NO)-dependent finger hyperemic response to forearm vascular occlusion, in patients with sepsis. This suggests that the ang-1/2-Tie2 system is involved in a number of pathophysiologic, phenotypic and perhaps prognostic alterations in human sepsis, on top of the effect on pulmonary endothelial barrier function. The novel inflammatory route may be a target for future therapeutic studies in human sepsis and acute lung injury (ALI), including those with activated protein C.

Authors: Arie Groeneveld

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