Dr. Zhenquan Jia (Biology) received a continuation of funding from Campbell University for the project “Activating Multiorgan Antioxidative Gene Network for Treating Sepsis.”
Despite more than three decades of extensive research, sepsis remains the chief cause of death in intensive care units. However, the exact pathophysiology of sepsis remains to be elucidated. It is thought that sepsis is the culmination of complex interactions between the infecting microorganisms and the host inflammatory cells, leading to dysregulated inflammation, multiple organ failure, and death.
Lipopolysaccharides (LPS), also known as lipoglycans and endotoxins, is a widely used model for studying sepsis. LPS endotoxemia is simple and reproducible proving a rapid tool for to study systemic inflammation mimicking the inflammatory storm in sepsis in the clinic. Substantial studies support a causal role of oxidative/inflammatory stress in the development and progression of multiple organ injuries in sepsis in both animals and humans.
The larger project is geared toward understanding the molecular basis and role of a series of endogenous Nrf2-regulated antioxidative/anti-inflammatory (AO/AI) genes in LPS-induced endotoxemia. This sub-award work from the Campbell University Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine will support this goal by analysis of total glutathione, and NADPH:quinone oxidoreductase 1, glutathione transferase, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase and catalase by enzymatic activity, immunohistochemistry, Real-Time PCR techniques.
