Assessment of soluble thrombomodulin and soluble endoglin as endothelial dysfunction biomarkers in seriously ill surgical septic patients: correlation with organ dysfunction and disease severity.

Abstract

Sepsis, a complex condition characterized by dysregulated immune response and organ dysfunction, is a leading cause of mortality in ICU patients. Current diagnostic and prognostic approaches primarily rely on non-specific biomarkers and illness severity scores, despite early endothelial activation being a key feature of sepsis. This study aimed to evaluate the levels of soluble thrombomodulin and soluble endoglin in seriously ill surgical septic patients and explore their association with organ dysfunction and disease severity. A case control study was conducted from March 2022 to November 2022, involving seriously ill septic surgical patients. Baseline clinical and laboratory data were collected within 24h of admission to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. This included information such as age, sex, hemodynamic parameters, blood chemistry, SOFA score, qSOFA score, and APACHE-II score. A proforma was filled out to record these details. The outcome of each patient was noted at the time of discharge. The study found significantly elevated levels of soluble thrombomodulin and soluble endoglin in seriously ill surgical septic patients. The RTqPCR analysis revealed a positive correlation between soluble thrombomodulin and soluble endoglin levels with the qSOFA score, as well as, there was a positive association between RTqPCR soluble thrombomodulin and the SOFA score. These findings indicate a correlation between these biomarkers and organ dysfunction and disease severity. The study concludes that elevated levels of soluble thrombomodulin and soluble endoglin can serve as endothelial biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognostication in seriously ill surgical septic patients.