Investigation of trace elements in sepsis patients

Our study that we investigated the trace element levels in sepsis patients was performed in cross-section in Duzce University Health Practice and Research Center Internal Intensive Care Unit, Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit, Infectious Diseases Clinic and Policlinic between December 2015 and December 2016. Our study included eighty-seven patients (sepsis group) who were hospitalized or treated with suspected sepsis and septic shock who did not have exclusion criteria (actively using medicines containing trace elements, refusing the study protocol, being under 18 years of age) and 22 healthy volunteers who constituted the control group. Serum trace element levels were assessed by ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) method. In our study comparing ten elements (Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Co, Cr, Se, Mo, Al, Ni) between sepsis and control group, a significant difference was observed in five trace element levels. Cr (p <0.001), Fe (p = 0.004), Ni (p = 0.001), Cu (p <0.001) and Cd (p <0.001) trace elements was significantly higher in the sepsis group. The trace elements of Al (p = 0,572), Co (p = 0,846) and Zn (p = 0,113) were lower in the sepsis group than the control group and this difference was not statistically significant. Se (p = 0,106) and V (p = 0.298) were higher in the sepsis group; but this difference was not statistically significant. More work is needed to study the relationship of with sepsis and other infectious diseases that these serum trace elements which we found to be statistically significantly higher in our study. Key words: Sepsis, Septic Shock, SOFA Score, Trace Elements, ICP-MS.