Serum trace element and heavy metal levels in patients with sepsis

Abstract

Background and objectives: Sepsis is defined as a life-threatening organ dysfunction syndrome, which occurs when the body's immune response to infection is impaired. The aim of the present study was to investigate serum Iron, Copper, Zinco, Cobalt, Chromium, Selenium, Vanadium, Nickel, Cadmium, and Aliminium levels in patients with sepsis. Materials and methods: This prospective and observational study was conducted at a tertiary care university hospital of Turkey from 2015 to 2016, and comprised patients with sepsis. Serum concentrations of 10 elements were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Analyses were performed at the laboratory of D€ uzce University Scientific and Technological Research Application and Research Center. A total of 87 participants (52 men, 35 women; average age, 74.11 ± 14.26) were enrolled. Results: When evaluated in terms of trace elements, a significant difference was noted between the sepsis and control groups in terms of the levels of the five elements. Chromium, Iron, Nickel, Copper, and Cadmium levels were significantly higher in the sepsis group. Conclusion: Our study indicated in particular, Iron, Copper, Chromium, Nickel, and Cadmium levels were elevated in patients with sepsis.

The Correlation Between Whole Blood Copper and Zinc Levels and Sepsis-Induced Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction (SILVSD) in Patients with Septic Shock: A Single-Center Prospective Observational Study

“…There are some previous studies that investigated the relationship between levels of serum Cu and Zn and prognosis in sepsis or septic shock and demonstrated that the higher mortality was correlated with higher serum Cu and lower serum Zn (29,43), but this correlation was not be found in the research of Ayoglu et al in Turkey (26). In contrast, although the 28-day mortality was not signi cant difference between non-SIMD and SILVSD groups, compared with survivors with septic shock, we discovered that the increased levels of whole blood Cu and the reduced levels of whole blood Zn existed in non-survivors with septic shock, which is consistent with previous studies (29,43). After analysis of the correlations between whole blood Cu and Zn and APACHE-II score and SOFA score by Pearson line correlation, we found whole blood Cu was positively correlated with APACHE-II score and SOFA score and whole blood Zn was negatively correlated with APACHE-II score and SOFA score.…”

“…Compared with researches investigated the correlation between serum Zn and sepsis or septic shock (27,28), studies on the relationship between serum Cu and sepsis or septic shock are fewer but have shown that serum Cu levels are elevated in patients with sepsis (26). Idris et al and Manuel et al found that elevated serum Cu concentrations existed in septic patients (29,30). Cu is vital for synthesis of collagen, antioxidant response, iron transportation, acts as a cofactor for oxidative metalloenzymes and can result in anaemia, leukopenia and pancytopenia (31,32), but the potential mechanisms of higher serum Cu in sepsis remain unclear absolutely.…”

The Correlation Between Whole Blood Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn) Levels and Cu/Zn Ratio and Sepsis-Induced Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction (SILVSD) in Patients with Septic Shock: A Single-Center Prospective Observational Study

“…There are some previous studies that investigated the relationship between serum Cu and Zn levels and prognosis in sepsis or septic shock and demonstrated that the higher mortality was correlated with higher serum Cu and lower serum Zn, 19,33 but this correlation was not found in the research of Ayoglu et al in Turkey. 17 In contrast, although the 28-day mortality was not significantly different between non-SIMD and SILVSD, compared with survivors with septic shock, we discovered that the increased levels of whole blood Cu and the reduced levels of whole blood Zn existed in non-survivors with septic shock, which is consistent with previous studies.…”

“…17 In contrast, although the 28-day mortality was not significantly different between non-SIMD and SILVSD, compared with survivors with septic shock, we discovered that the increased levels of whole blood Cu and the reduced levels of whole blood Zn existed in non-survivors with septic shock, which is consistent with previous studies. 19,33 After analysis of the correlations between whole blood Cu and Zn and APACHE-II score and SOFA score by partial correlation analysis, we found whole blood Cu was positively correlated with APACHE-II score and SOFA score and whole blood Zn was negatively correlated with APACHE-II score and SOFA score. Therefore, in this research, higher Cu concentration and lower Zn concentration may be associated with severity of multi-organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) at admission in patients with septic shock.…”

“…17 Akkaş et al and Martinez-Peinadoet al found that serum Cu concentrations were elevated in septic patients. 33,34 Cu is vital for synthesis of collagen, oxidative injury, antioxidant response, iron transportation, acts as a cofactor for oxidative metalloenzymes and can result in anemia, leukopenia and pancytopenia, 35,36 but the potential mechanisms of higher serum Cu in sepsis remain unclear absolutely. On the contrary, studies have shown that Zn is related to nutritional immunity and involved in the synthesis of acute phase proteins and acts as a hepatoprotective agent, or a differentiation signal for innate immune cells.…”