Anest. intenziv. Med. 2010;21(6):342-350

Thrombocytes in sepsisIntesive Care Medicine - Review Article

Karvunidis Thomas^1,*, Chvojka Jiří¹, Lysák Daniel², Kroužecký Aleš¹, Raděj Jaroslav¹, Novák Ivan¹, Matějovič Martin^1,*

¹ I. interní klinika, Jednotka intenzivní péče, Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Lékařská fakulta v Plzni a Fakultní nemocnice Plzeň

² Hematologicko-onkologické oddělení, Fakultní nemocnice Plzeň

Sepsis and septic shock are the most frequent causes of death in intensive care units. Thrombocytopenia and/or platelet function impairment are common parts of the multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. However, thrombocytes are not mere bystanders as documented in the present literature. Platelets, primary actors in haemostasis and thrombin generation during endothelial integrity disruption, similarly to leukocytes, maintain important functions of innate defense mechanisms of the host. These cellular fragments express and secrete numbers of adhesive and pro-inflammatory molecules that serve to initiate and modulate the primary immune response. Such haemostatic and especially non-haemostatic functions of platelets and their role in the pathogenesis of systemic inflammation will be discussed in this review.

Keywords: platelets; sepsis; innate immunity; intercellular interaction

Received: August 3, 2010; Accepted: September 21, 2010; Published: December 1, 2010  Show citation