Plasmas From Patients With Burn Injury Induce Endotheliopathy Through Different Pathways

Area of Science:

• Vascular Biology
• Burn Injury Pathophysiology
• Endothelial Function

Background:

• Endothelial injury's role in burn shock is unclear.
• Burn patient plasmas may dysregulate endothelial barrier function.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate mechanisms of endothelial barrier dysfunction in burn shock.
• Assess the impact of burn patient plasma on endothelial cells.

Main Methods:

• Collected plasma from burn patients (n=8) within 4 hours of admission.
• Exposed human umbilical vein endothelial cell monolayers (HUVEC-m) to patient or control plasma.
• Assessed HUVEC-m permeability, intercellular gap area, apoptosis, and gene expression.

Main Results:

• Five patient plasmas significantly increased HUVEC-m permeability.
• Higher syndecan-1 levels were observed in plasmas that increased permeability.
• Intercellular gap area and apoptosis increased, but did not fully correlate with permeability changes.

Conclusions:

• Burn patient plasmas variably disrupt endothelial cell homeostasis.
• Increased permeability, gap area, and apoptosis are observed but not fully explained by gap size or apoptosis alone.
• Syndecan-1 may play a role in burn-induced endothelial barrier dysfunction.