HRG replacement therapy may provide a new strategy for the treatment of sepsis

When suffering from sepsis, controlling the shape and activity of key proteins of a group of white blood cells and raising the levels can improve the chance of survival and recovery, according some studies using recombinant proteins. Blood poisoning after injury or infection is called sepsis, and it is a major reason of death worldwide. When suffering from sepsis, the body's immune system would over operate, leading to blood insufficiency of its own tissues and organs and thus causing damages. However, the exact molecular mechanisms of sepsis and its processes are unclear.

Now, Professor Masahiro Horie West in Japan and his colleagues from Okayama University, Shujitsu University and Kinki University have shown that a natural protein called histidine-rich glycoprotein (HRG) plays a significant role in the prevention of sepsis. They found that HRG controls the shape and activities of leukocyte which is called neutrophil to make them flow freely and show right response in the fight against sepsis.

Nishibori team intended to verify the role of HRG, because when sepsis happens, HRG levels in patients drop dramatically. HRG protein is produced and secreted by the liver. It is known that HRG is involved in regulating the immune response as well as the promotion of antibacterial and antifungal activity. The research team induced sepsis in a group of mice and took the healthy group as a control group. They purified human plasma HRG and made use of a dose of HRG protein to treat certain sepsis mice.

The researchers found that mice given HRG rapidly showed spontaneous activity and began to recover from sepsis. Further investigation showed that inflammation of the lungs of the treated mice was much less than the untreated mice. The shape of neutrophils of mice given HRG was more rounded and spherical, which made them more freely to go through micro-capillaries and veins. While the neutrophils of sepsis mice showed irregular cell shapes. This in turn triggers unwanted activity, because metamorphotic neutrophil will attach to other cells and establish cell mass, restricting blood flow.

"The reduce of plasma HRG is a fundamental way of incidence of sepsis," the authors stated in their paper published in the journal eBioMedicine (2016) , "HRG replacement therapy may provide a new strategy for the treatment of sepsis."

Further research is needed in healthy subjects and patients with sepsis, upstream signaling processes involved in HRG action. Further research will also determine whether HRG dose may be a valuable method for the treatment of patients with sepsis. Flarebio provides you with high-quality recombinant proteins such as recombinant CDH4 at reasonable prices.