Parthanatos type programmed cell death and septic patient mortality
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Updated: Jul 28, 2025

Author Spotlight: THP-1 Macrophage Response to LPS/ATP — Unveiling the Pyroptosis, Apoptosis, and Necroptosis Spectrum
Published on: May 3, 2024
Leonardo Lorente1, María M Martín2, Raquel Ortiz-López3
1Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Tenerife, Spain.
Objective:
Parthanatos is a form of programmed cell death mediated by apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF). However, there are not data on parthanatos in septic patients. The objective of the current study was to explore whether parthanatos is associated with mortality of septic patients.
Design:
Observational and prospective study.
Setting:
Three Spanish Intensive Care Units during 2017.
Patients:
Patients with sepsis according to Sepsis-3 Consensus criteria.
Interventions:
Serum AIF concentrations were determined at moment of sepsis diagnosis.
Main Variable Of Interest:
Mortality at 30 days.
Results:
There were included 195 septic patients, and non-surviving (n=72) had serum AIF levels (p<0.001), lactic acid (p<0.001) and APACHE-II (p<0.001) that surviving (n=123). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that patients with serum AIF levels>55.6ng/mL had higher mortality risk (OR=3.290; 95% CI=1.551-6.979; p=0.002) controlling for age, SOFA and lactic acid.
Conclusions:
Parthanatos is associated with mortality of septic patients.
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