Study of Endothelial Cell Changes in Sepsis and After Major Surgery Tracking Gene Expression During Inflammation

What this Trial Is About

This research aims to understand how gene expression changes in endothelial cells during inflammatory conditions such as sepsis or after major abdominal surgery. The study focuses on identifying molecular pathways that differ during these inflammatory states to better understand how the immune system interacts with blood vessel cells and contributes to severe symptoms like low blood pressure and organ failure. Participants include healthy volunteers, surgical patients undergoing major surgery, and critically ill sepsis patients admitted to intensive care. Endothelial cells are collected using a safe technique involving a metal guidewire inserted into a vein in the arm. Samples are taken at specific times once from healthy volunteers, once at peak inflammation from surgical and sepsis patients, and multiple times over 48 hours in some patients to observe changes over time. Participants will undergo endothelial cell biopsies and provide blood samples during their hospital stay. Researchers will analyze RNA from these cells to track gene expression changes at different time points. The primary outcome is the measurement of differential gene expression in endothelial cells over two years. This study also includes healthy control samples and gathers data to potentially improve understanding of inflammatory responses and treatment reactions.

Characterisation of Endothelial Cells in Different Inflammatory Pathologies