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Project Title:
Blood Purification in Experimental Sepsis
Funding Agency:
RenalTech International, LLC
Total Project Period:
Sep 01, 2001 - Aug 31, 2004
Principal Investigator:
John Kellum, Jr, MD
Project Summary:
This investigation tests two closely related general hypotheses: 1) Hemo-adsorption will reduce the inflammatory cytokine response and improve survival time compared to sham-treatment in experimental sepsis. 2) That hemo-adsorption will reverse sepsis-induced immuno-paralysis. We will test both hypotheses using established animal models of sepsis (IV endotoxin injection and cecal-ligation and puncture in the rat) and using an established cell culture line (mouse macrophage-like rAW 2647 cells). The results of this investigation will significantly improve our understanding of the effects of hemo-adsorption on immuno-paralysis and on survival from sepsis. These results may, by themselves, strengthen the clinical rationale for the use of hemo-adsorption in the treatment of severe sepsis, a condition inflicting more than 450,000 Americans every year. These studies will serve as an important platform for future investigation and as benchmarks against which other devices and sorbents can be measured.
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