Progress in Surgery / Modulation of the Inflammatory Response in Severe Sepsis

In the future, an increasing number of patients with severe infection should benefit from several new therapies which make use of biological response modifiers. However, the complexity of these new therapies demands an exhaustive knowledge of their mode of action, biological repurcussions and pharmaceutical design in order to assess their clinical potential. This text provides a review of recent progress in anti-cytokine, anti-endotoxin, anti-neutrophil and anti-arachidonic therapies. It includes an overview of the basic cellular and molecular mechanisms involved as well as an update of current experience with human clinical trials.