Table 1. Demographic and clinical characteristics of healthy subjects, bacterial sepsis (BS) and bacterial severe sepsis/ septic shock (BSS/SS).
| Healthy | †BS | ††BSS/SS | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 45) | (n = 45) | (n = 35) | ||
| Age (mean ± SEM) | 49.1 ± 16.5 | 56.6 ± 18.3 | 62.8 ± 15.2 | 0.050 a |
| Gender, n(%) | ||||
| Male | 26 (57.8) | 28 (62.2) | 22 (62.9) | 0.872 d |
| Female | 19 (42.2) | 17 (37.8) | 13 (37.1) | |
| Race, n(%) | ||||
| Malay | 44 (97.8) | 26 (57.8) | 13 (37.9) | 0.511 d |
| Chinese | 1 (2.2) | 13 (28.9) | 15 (42.9) | |
| Indian | 0 (0.0) | 4 (8.9) | 3 (8.6) | |
| Others | 0 (0.0) | 2 (4.4) | 2 (11.4) | |
| SIRS Criteria (mean ± SEM) | ||||
| Heart rate (per minute) | 74 ± 15 | 109 ± 16 b | 113 ± 21 b | <0.001 a* |
| Respiratory rate (per minute) | 18 ± 3 | 21 ± 5 b | 25 ± 8 b,c | <0.001 a* |
| Temperature (°Celcius) | 36.5 ± 0.6 | 38.1 ± 1.1 b | 38.2 ± 1.1 b | <0.001 a* |
| Total White Blood Count(per microliter) | 8.1 ± 1.6 | 15.1 ± 7.5 b | 15.0 ± 11.2 b | <0.001 a* |
| Source of infection, n(%) | ||||
| Respiratory | N/A | 9 (20.0) | 4 (20.0) | 0.605 d |
| Skin | 5 (11.1) | 4 (11.4) | ||
| Gastrointestinal | 5 (11.1) | 8 (22.9) | ||
| Urinary tract | 10 (22.2) | 5 (14.3) | ||
| Blood/Catheter | 7 (15.6) | 6 (17.1) | ||
| Central nervous system | 2 (4.4) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Musculoskeletal | 7 (15.6) | 5 (14.3) | ||
| Level of inflammatory markers (mean ± SEM) | ||||
| sPLA2-IIA (ng/ml) | 1.0 ± 0.1 | 18.3 ± 1.7 b | 22.6 ± 2.5 b | <0.001 a* |
| PGE2 (ng/ml) | 591.1 ± 107.7 | 2121.0 ± 245.8 b | 2127.5 ± 283.7 b | <0.001 a* |
| PGDS (ng/ml) | 4.1 ± 0.3 | 8.7 ± 0.7 b | 6.8 ± 0.7 b | <0.001 a* |
| COX activities | ||||
| COX-1 (nmol/unit/ml) | 64.1 ± 4.9 | 33.3 ± 4.9 b | 46.3 ± 5.9 b | <0.001 a* |
| COX-2 (nmol/unit/ml) | 42.5 ± 4.7 | 61.7 ± 4.6 b | 55.6 ± 6.4 b | 0.021 |
Abbreviations: SEM standard error of mean, sPLA2-IIA secretory phospholipase A2 group IIA, PGE2 prostaglandin E2, PGDS prostaglandin D synthase, COX cyclooxygenase enzyme.
a ANOVA test (for continuous data)
b post-hoc Bonferroni; p<0.05 as compared to healthy
c post-hoc Bonferroni; p<0.05 as compared to BS
d Chi-Square test (for categorical data)
† Bacterial sepsis
†† Bacterial severe sepsis/septic shock
* Significant difference at p<0.05