Innovative paths in sepsis treatment

New organ-specific drug delivery systems could bring significant benefits in the treatment of sepsis in the future, as recently outlined in an article in the journal "q&more" about the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1278 PolyTarget. 

In the case of sepsis, the decisive feature of which is organ failure, two strategies are currently being pursued in intensive care medicine: on the one hand, fighting the pathogen that triggered the infection, and on the other hand, taking over bodily functions, for example through dialysis or ventilation, in order to give the body time to heal. The administration of drugs to support the resumption of organ function is currently still difficult, as these are recognised and fought by the immune system and thus often do more harm than good. 

This is where the CRC PolyTarget comes into play. There, research is being conducted on ways to channel the drugs past the immune system and only allow them to take effect in the desired organ. In a modular system, different nanoparticles are to serve as packaging that can be used depending on the purpose. This has now been achieved for the first time in an animal model using the liver as an example. There were no side effects on the immune system. This gives hope that drugs can be used more specifically and with fewer side effects in the future.

You can find the entire article hereExternal link.