Reducing sepsis by nanosponges macrophage

White blood cells are human's protectors

Aeglephysics.com - Imagine our skin is wounded because of something, then our body starts to feel high temperature. This biological mechanism of fever is actually the respond of our body when realizing the presence of alien thing. Consequently, the monocyte (part of the white blood cells) fights against the alien matter to prevent our body got infection. But, there is side effect which is not only the fever!
Sepsis is one of the side effect which can lead to several dangerous impacts to the body including organ failure, septic shock, and even death. But, how it can be happening? And how we could prevent the failure, shock or the death?

A team of researchers from the University of California San Diego was able to develop one method to prevent those lethal side effects. By using the nano-technology implemented inside the bloodstream, the alien matter could be absorbed and removed by this technique. It is called nano-sponges macrophage which can absorb the dangerous-detected-molecules, so the sepsis mechanisms could be prevented. This technique has been applied to the mice, and the result is quite promising.

But, is it possible that sepsis happens although there are not any wounds?

Sepsis is an auto-biological immune system creating by the body every time our body realizes there is any dangerous molecules, for instance is bacteria. Whenever the alien matter comes to our body, the brain will instruct the monocyte or macrophage to fight against the alien matter and produce the fever as indicator of the successful fighting. However, we could not guarantee the bacteria which can lead to the production of toxic molecules such as endotoxins.

Consequently, the body will respond quickly about the bacteria and endotoxins. Biologically speaking, the macrophage or monocyte produces proteins that can cause inflammatory, and these proteins are called pro-inflammatory cytokines. Ironically, this will not be causing lethal effects if the inflammation happens in only one time. However, because the bacteria could go everywhere inside the body throughout the blood vessels helped by the bloodstream, the possibility of area to be infected by the bacteria could be anywhere and many. Therefore, the dangerous of sepsis is actually the domino effects caused by the systemic inflammation which can cause organ failure led to death.

Does not it impossible to inject something outsider to our body?

The thing which is macrophage is the key of this succeed groundbreaking. The scientists took macrophage or monocyte from the mice, and soaked the cell in a solution. The macrophage cells then were separated with the membrane. By applying the centrifuge, the membranes were collected and they used these membranes for coating the nano-sponges which are made from biodegradable material. Therefore, the body will not recognize it as dangerous matter, but vice versa.

The result of the research was quite promising. Two groups of mice consisting 10 mice each group then were treated. One group was infected by the E. Coli bacteria with lethal dosage, and this group then had been treated for certain dose of macrophage nano-sponges. While the other group of mice which was infected by lethal dosage too was not treated with macrophage nano-sponges. After being observed for several times, the untreated group was dead, while the treated group was alive. And it was found that in the treated group, the macrophage nanosponges was able to reduce the amount of endotoxins and pro-inflammatory cytokines significantly, indicating there was a prevention.

The researchers now move to the larger animal for further research. This study is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2017. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1714267114