Gene pattern linked to child septic shock

Cincinnati -- A U.S. study has discovered a gene expression pattern that might lead to improved diagnosis and treatment of pediatric septic shock.

The research, led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, involved the largest gene expression analysis to date of blood samples from children with septic shock.

The scientists found evidence linking adverse clinical outcomes with decreased expression of genes that encode proteins involved in zinc regulation. That finding suggests proteins and zinc regulation could provide a target for therapeutic intervention to inhibit septic shock's progression to multiple organ failure.

"Zinc was not even on our radar screen for this disease process," said Dr. Hector Wong, critical care medicine director at Cincinnati Children's. "This study demonstrates the potential power of genomic medicine for discovery and the generation of novel hypotheses."

The research involved scientists from the University of Michigan; Children's Hospital and Research Center, Oakland, Calif.; Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City; Mo.; Penn State Children's Hospital; University of Virginia Medical Center; Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Newark, N.J.; University of Alabama at Birmingham; and DuPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, Del.

The study appears in Physiological Genomics.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.