Genetics of sepsis and pneumonia.
OBJECTIVE
The genetic risk for pneumonia, sepsis, and other serious infections is generally unrecognized or underestimated. Although the strongest evidence for a genetic risk comes from an adoptee study, most evidence for a genetic role in infection involves association studies, which compare the incidence of specific mutations in a population with infection to a control population. Recent association studies in pneumonia and sepsis will be reviewed.


RESULTS
Most positive association studies examine genes for important inflammatory molecules such as tumor necrosis factor, the interleukin-1 family, interleukin-10, and angiotensin converting enzyme, as well as molecules important in antigen recognition, such as the mannose-binding lectin, CD-14, and toll-like receptors.


CONCLUSIONS
A genetic component to risk of sepsis and resultant complications clearly exists. Confirmation of the findings in this review and associations with other genetic polymorphisms await large-scale population studies and further validation of the physiologic significance of the variant alleles.
D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000235:genetics; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000235:genetics; D037601:Mannose-Binding Lectin / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000235:genetics; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D018805:Sepsis / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics*; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics; D000099231:Lipopolysaccharide-Binding Protein
D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D007375:Interleukin-1; D016753:Interleukin-10; D037601:Mannose-Binding Lectin; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000099231:Lipopolysaccharide-Binding Protein