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Multilevel omics for the discovery of biomarkers in pediatric sepsis
Xinyu Wang1, Rubo Li2, Suyun Qian2
1Laboratory of Dermatology Beijing Pediatric Research Institute Beijing Children's Hospital Capital Medical University Key Laboratory of Major Diseases in Children, Ministry of Education, National Center for Children's Health Beijing China.
Insights
Identifying pediatric sepsis biomarkers is crucial for early diagnosis and personalized treatment. A combination of multi-omics markers, considering the specific infectious agent, is key for improving outcomes in children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric critical care medicine
- Molecular biology and genetics
- Biomarker discovery
Background:
- Severe sepsis is a leading cause of mortality in children globally, characterized by organ dysfunction.
- Early sepsis recognition is vital for implementing precise treatments and reducing pediatric mortality.
- Significant differences exist in host cellular responses to sepsis between pediatric and adult populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and summarize advancements in identifying pediatric sepsis biomarkers using multi-omics approaches.
- To highlight the potential of multi-level omics data (genome, transcript, protein, metabolite) for biomarker screening.
- To emphasize the need for distinguishing infectious agents in sepsis for accurate biomarker identification.
Main Methods:
- Narrative review of recent studies on pediatric sepsis biomarkers.
- Analysis of multi-omics techniques applied in biomarker screening.
- Consideration of host response variations based on infectious agents (bacteria, virus, fungus).
Main Results:
- A single biomarker is unlikely to be sufficient for precise sepsis diagnosis.
- A panel of biomarkers, potentially detected across multiple omics levels, shows greater promise.
- Host response and biomarker screening results are significantly influenced by the type of infectious agent.
Conclusions:
- Precision diagnosis and personalized medicine for pediatric sepsis require a multi-marker, multi-omics approach.
- Distinguishing between bacterial, viral, and fungal infections is critical for effective biomarker identification.
- Future research should focus on agent-specific biomarkers to enhance clinical application of personalized sepsis care.
Abstract:
Severe sepsis causes organ dysfunction and continues to be the leading reason for pediatric death worldwide. Early recognition of sepsis could substantially promote precision treatment and reduce the risk of pediatric death. The host cellular response to infection during sepsis between adults and pediatrics could be significantly different. A growing body of studies focused on finding markers in pediatric sepsis in recent years using multi-omics approaches. This narrative review summarized the progress in studying pediatric sepsis biomarkers from genome, transcript, protein, and metabolite levels according to the omics technique that has been applied for biomarker screening. It is most likely not a single biomarker could work for precision diagnosis of sepsis, but a panel of markers and probably a combination of markers detected at multi-levels. Importantly, we emphasize the importance of group distinction of infectious agents in sepsis patients for biomarker identification, because the host response to infection of bacteria, virus, or fungus could be substantially different and thus the results of biomarker screening. Further studies on the investigation of sepsis biomarkers that were caused by a specific group of infectious agents should be encouraged in the future, which will better improve the clinical execution of personalized medicine for pediatric sepsis.
