The role of RIPK1, RIPK2 and RIPK3 expression in sepsis pathogenesis in calves

Sepsis, a dysregulated inflammatory response to infection, often results in organ dysfunction syndrome and causes death. There is no specific treatment for sepsis to date. Traditional biomarkers widely used in clinical practice to diagnose sepsis are insufficient to distinguish sepsis from other diseases. Therefore, there is a need to develop new biomarkers that can better inform clinicians treating patients with sepsis. Cell death mechanisms play an important role in the pathogenesis of sepsis, especially in the development of immunosuppression. Studies in human medicine show that necroptosis, one of the cell death pathways, has an important role in the pathogenesis of sepsis. In this study, it was aimed to reveal the role and their potential use as biomarkers of mRNA levels of receptor interacting protein kinase1 (RIPK1), RIPK2 and RIPK3 which play a role in the necroptosis pathway as in blood samples of calves with sepsis in veterinary medicine. In our study, 20 Holstein calves between 1-20 days of age and 10 healthy (Holstein) calves in the same age range as the control group were evaluated. Calves, which form the infection of enteritis and meet the sepsis criteria in the later stages of the disease were included in the study and atheir leukocyte (WBC), erythrocyte (RBC), haemoglobin (Hb), haematocrit (Ht) and platelet parameters were measured. Total RNA was isolated from the remaining blood samples using the nucleosol agent, cDNA was synthesized from the RNA samples obtained using the commercial kit, and relative expression levels of the target genes were determined using the quantitative PCR (qPCR) method. While qPCR results showed that RIPK1 and RIPK3 expressions significantly decreased in calves with sepsis compared to the control group, RIPK2 could not be detected in the samples because of its low expression level. As a result, it is thought that RIPK1 and RIPK3 mRNA expressions could be use as biomarkers in the diagnosis of calves with sepsis in veterinary medicine, but more detailed experimental sepsis models were required to be established.