Sepsis since the discovery of Toll-like receptors: disease concepts and therapeutic opportunities.
OBJECTIVE
Sepsis and its sequelae are the leading cause of death in critically ill patients. Discovery in the late 1990s of Toll-like receptors as primary sensors of microbial infection led to significant advances in understanding the pathogenesis of sepsis, including emerging differences between Gram-positive and Gram-negative infection and the potential for the manipulation of Toll-like receptors for the treatment of sepsis. This review describes these advances.


METHODS
Bibliographic search of the literature since 1999, with particular emphasis on the conceptual and therapeutic implications of Toll-like receptors for patients with systemic sepsis.


CONCLUSIONS
Toll-like receptors initiate the inflammatory processes that underlie the clinical response to infection and therefore represent an important putative target for therapeutic intervention.
Leaver
Susannah K
SK
Unit of Critical Care Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, UK.
Finney
Simon J
SJ
Burke-Gaffney
Anne
A
Evans
Timothy W
TW
D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D018805:Sepsis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
D051193:Toll-Like Receptors