Carcillo R01 Project Abstract Every year over 1 million American adults and children develop overwhelming infection leading to a rotting of their body we call ?sepsis?, and death in up to 1 of 3 afflicted (www.nigms.nih.gov>NIGMS Home>Science Education). National efforts emphasizing early recognition, intravenous fluids to help organs, and antibiotics to kill infection, have reduced mortality so that now 1 of 4 die. We and others have asked the question ?why do patients continue to die despite these national efforts?? In the previous funding period we showed in 401 children with sepsis that those who developed organ shut down despite these efforts, did so because they were a) unable to fight germs causing unending infection, b) unable to stop clotting off their body causing kidney failure, and/or c) unable to kill viruses causing liver failure; all of which led to death from uncontrolled inflammation with clotting, bleeding and liver failure. Fortunately, each of these organ shutdown groups has hopeful treatments. With the new information we collected in the previous funding period we have already designed and started clinical trials testing these treatments including immune boosters for children unable to kill germs, plasma removal and replacement using plasma exchange for children unable to stop clotting, monoclonal antibodies to kill viruses and their homes to reverse liver failure in children unable to do so on their own, and anti-inflammatory proteins to reverse uncontrollable inflammation, in hopes of helping save many of the 1 of 4 children still dying from sepsis related organ shutdown. In this next funding period, we propose to use the clinical information and samples already obtained in our previous study to take advantage of the wonderful advances made this millenia in computer technology, big data, bioinformatics, and the study of human and virus genetics to perform Specific Aim 1) use a ?Watson? like approach to ask the computer to help us figure out if the children with sepsis have any other causes of organ shutdown that we can help, Specific Aim 2) use an ?Ancestry.com?-like or ?23 and me?-like approach to identify ?precision medicine? therapies for causes of organ shutdown that we can treat on a patient by patient basis, and Specific Aim 3) use a bedside molecular biology test approach to identify individualized therapies to kill DNA viruses and reduce cytokine inflammation. We think that DNA viruses are the unappreciated co-infection which causes uncontrolled cytokine inflammation and leads to organ shutdown. Our long term objective is to plan ?precision? medicine and ?individualized? medicine clinical trials testing therapies on an individual patient basis in order to further reduce death from sepsis organ shutdown in children.

Public Health Relevance

Carcillo R01 Narrative Statement Every year over 1 million American adults and children develop overwhelming infection leading to a rotting of their body we call ?sepsis?, and death in up to 1 of 4 afflicted (www.nigms.nih.gov>NIGMS Home>Science Education). In our previous funding period we showed that this occurs when groups of patients are unable to kill germs, stop clotting or bleeding, or stop viruses from reproducing, and we have therefore designed and begun clinical trials to help these children do so. In this new funding period we are using ?Watson?-like, ?Twenty three and me?-like, and ?Ancestry.com?-like approaches to figure out how to help each child with individually tailored treatments that are best at helping them live long and happy lives.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM108618-06
Application #
10017690
Study Section
Surgery, Anesthesiology and Trauma Study Section (SAT)
Program Officer
Dunsmore, Sarah
Project Start
2014-03-01
Project End
2023-06-30
Budget Start
2020-07-01
Budget End
2021-06-30
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
2020
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Pittsburgh
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
004514360
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15260
Davila, Sam; Halstead, E Scott; Hall, Mark W et al. (2018) Viral DNAemia and Immune Suppression in Pediatric Sepsis. Pediatr Crit Care Med 19:e14-e22
Carcillo, Joseph A; Shakoory, Bita; Simon, Dennis et al. (2018) Understanding Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation and Hepatobiliary Dysfunction Multiple Organ Failure in Hyperferritinemic Critical Illness. Pediatr Crit Care Med 19:1006-1009
Kernan, Kate F; Ghaloul-Gonzalez, Lina; Shakoory, Bita et al. (2018) Adults with septic shock and extreme hyperferritinemia exhibit pathogenic immune variation. Genes Immun :
Carcillo, Joseph A; Sward, Katherine; Halstead, E Scott et al. (2017) A Systemic Inflammation Mortality Risk Assessment Contingency Table for Severe Sepsis. Pediatr Crit Care Med 18:143-150
Carcillo, Joseph A; Dean, J Michael; Holubkov, Richard et al. (2017) Interaction Between 2 Nutraceutical Treatments and Host Immune Status in the Pediatric Critical Illness Stress-Induced Immune Suppression Comparative Effectiveness Trial. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr 41:1325-1335
Carcillo, Joseph A; Podd, Bradley; Simon, Dennis W (2017) From febrile pancytopenia to hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis-associated organ dysfunction. Intensive Care Med 43:1853-1855
Kernan, Kate F; Carcillo, Joseph A (2017) Hyperferritinemia and inflammation. Int Immunol 29:401-409
Carcillo, Joseph A; Podd, Bradley; Aneja, Rajesh et al. (2017) Pathophysiology of Pediatric Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome. Pediatr Crit Care Med 18:S32-S45
Podd, Bradley S; Simon, Dennis W; Lopez, Santiago et al. (2017) Rationale for Adjunctive Therapies for Pediatric Sepsis Induced Multiple Organ Failure. Pediatr Clin North Am 64:1071-1088
Carcillo, Joseph A; Halstead, E Scott; Hall, Mark W et al. (2017) Three Hypothetical Inflammation Pathobiology Phenotypes and Pediatric Sepsis-Induced Multiple Organ Failure Outcome. Pediatr Crit Care Med 18:513-523

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