Cathelicidin LL-37 bloodstream surveillance is down regulated during septic shock.
Barbeiro. Denise Frediani DF; Barbeiro. Hermes Vieira HV; Zampieri. Fernando Godinho FG; César Machado. Marcel Cerqueira MC; Torggler Filho. Francisco F; Gomes Cunha. Débora Maria DM; Goulart. Alessandra Carvalho AC; Velasco. Irineu Tadeu IT; Monteiro da Cruz Neto. Luiz L; Possolo de Souza. Heraldo H; Pinheiro da Silva. Fabiano F
Key Findings
- LL‑37 is normally secreted into the bloodstream and helps keep the epithelial barrier safe from microbes.
- During septic shock, blood levels of LL‑37 are significantly reduced.
- The reduction in LL‑37 is not linked to vitamin D levels, even though vitamin D can boost LL‑37 production.
Practical Outcomes
- For biohackers, this means that simply taking vitamin D may not keep LL‑37 up during severe infections like septic shock. Monitoring LL‑37 could become a useful biomarker for immune status in critical illness, but the study does not yet provide a clear supplement or protocol to counteract the drop.
Summary
The study shows that the immune peptide LL‑37, which normally helps protect the body from infection, actually falls to lower levels in the blood during septic shock, and this drop isn’t caused by low vitamin D.
Abstract
Host defense peptides are ancient weapons of the innate immunity. The human cathelicidin LL-37 protects the epithelial barrier against infection and is constitutively secreted in the bloodstream by immune cells. Current knowledge claims that LL-37 is up regulated upon infection. LL-37 can protect against bacterial infections and possesses many immunomodulatory properties. Here, we show that the human host defense peptide LL-37 is down regulated during septic shock. Furthermore, we show that these effects are not related to vitamin D serum levels, a potent inducer of LL-37 gene expression, pointing out the complex regulation of cathelicidins during septic shock.
Study Information
pubmed
2013
2013-01-14T00:00:00.000Z
10.1016/j.micinf.2013.01.001
39
31