image: Sepsis leads to an energy crisis that appears to be linked to decreased energy production due to problems in fatty acid beta-oxidation and the citric acid cycle. The effect of this energy crisis is an increase in fatty acids of various carbon length bound to carnitine -- also known as acyl-carnitines. The increase in the acyl-carnitines was determined to be predictive of death due to sepsis. Identifying this molecular signature shortly after a patient arrives to the emergency department can help physicians make critical life saving decisions. This image relates to a paper that appeared in the July 24, 2013, issue of Science Translational Medicine, published by AAAS. The paper, by R.J. Langley at the National Center for Genome Resources in Santa Fe, N.M., and colleagues was titled, "An Integrated Clinico-Metabolomic Model Improves Prediction of Death in Sepsis." view more
Credit: Thomas J. Gagliano, Lovelace Respiratory Institute