Catalytic antibodies and severe sepsis

Extract: Sepsis is the leading cause of death in intensive care units. It results from the host's systemic response to infection, which at times can be deleterious. Although initially perceived as potentially harmful, catalytic antibodies have been proposed as participants in the removal of metabolic wastes and protection against infection. We have recently documented that the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) in plasma, which has a serine protease-like hydrolytic activity, strongly correlates with survival from sepsis, thus providing the first evidence that hydrolytic antibodies might play a role in recovery from a disease. It remains, however, unclear whether catalytic antibodies play a direct bactericidal role, participate in the control of disseminated microvascular thrombosis, and/or regulate inflammation. We propose that the catalytic potential of natural IgG may be the basis for an alternative complementary treatment of sepsis in the future.