CYP3A4*1G has an impact on the analgesic effect of fentanyl in Chinese Han subjects. Further validation of our results in a well-powered study would be helpful.

Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response syndrome to infection. Human b-defensin 1 (DEFB1) is a multifunctional mediator in infection and inflammation, which has been largely explored in ex vivo studies. The present case-control study was designed to investigate whether DEFB1 genomic variations are associated with the susceptibility to and the outcome of severe sepsis in 211 patients with severe sepsis and 157 ethnic-matched healthy controls. After correcting for multiple testing, the À44G/C was the only polymorphism found to show significant associations with both the susceptibility to and the fatal outcome of severe sepsis (P ¼ 0.0049, odd ratio (OR) 1.971 and P ¼ 0.002, OR 2.406, respectively). Haplotype À20A/À44C/À52G showed a protective role against severe sepsis (P ¼ 0.0066, OR 0.6751), whereas haplotype À20G/À44G/À52G served as a risk factor for the fatal outcome of severe sepsis (P ¼ 0.0052, OR 2.427). These findings provide further evidence that b-defensin 1 may play a role in the pathogenesis of severe sepsis.

No abstract