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Project

Defective autophagy and multiple organ failure during critical illness: a novel life-saving therapy

Prolonged critically ill patients nowadays still face a high risk of death, which is most often due to multiple organ failure. Several studies, including from our group, point to mitochondrial damage as an important pathway in the development of multiple organ failure and the lack of recovery hereof. Our recent, intriguing observations suggest that the natural process of removing damaged mitochondria, being autophagy, is not activated in critical illness, despite the severe mitochondrial damage that is present. Hence, we hypothesized that the degree of autophagy is inappropriately low during critical illness, which is probably caused or aggravated by artificial feeding and contributes to organ failure and death. Very recently, a class of natural compounds has emerged with therapeutic potential of stimulation of autophagy. After the very promising data obtained in a pilot study in our animal model of critical illness, the aim of the current project is to confirm this benefit in a proof-of-concept study. 

Date:1 Oct 2010 →  30 Sep 2011
Keywords:Critical illness, Multiple organ failure, Autophagy
Disciplines:Anaesthesiology, Intensive care and emergency medicine