A decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was observed in patients suffering from septic shock with normalization of systolic function after 10 days.�Similar courses of reversible myocardial dysfunction due to the systemic inflammatory response syndrome were also encountered in other critical illnesses. Since the pathological and histological mechanisms are not fully understood, the present study tries to understand the septic cardiomyopathy related to the apoptotic pathway. Thestudy included a number of 29�cases of adults that died of septic shock being analysed for BCL2 and p53 expression rates of myocardial tissue. This is the first time the expression of BCL2 protein, p53 tumour protein were evaluated in septic shock and septic cardiomyopathy of humans.�There was a strong link between the increased expression of BCL2 and of p53 protein in cardiac muscle cells in the studied group (p=0.0300).�The study showed a significant correlation between markedly increased values and poor outcome.

A decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was observed in patients suffering from septic shock with normalization of systolic function after 10 days.�Similar courses of reversible myocardial dysfunction due to the systemic inflammatory response syndrome were also encountered in other critical illnesses. Since the pathological and histological mechanisms are not fully understood, the present study tries to understand the septic cardiomyopathy related to the apoptotic pathway. Thestudy included a number of 29�cases of adults that died of septic shock being analysed for BCL2 and p53 expression rates of myocardial tissue. This is the first time the expression of BCL2 protein, p53 tumour protein were evaluated in septic shock and septic cardiomyopathy of humans.�There was a strong link between the increased expression of BCL2 and of p53 protein in cardiac muscle cells in the studied group (p=0.0300).�The study showed a significant correlation between markedly increased values and poor outcome.

Sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction (SIMD) is one of the major predictors of morbidity and mortality of sepsis. A high percentage of patients with SIMD develop a status similar to cardiogenic shock. A high level of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) associated with an overexpression of CD14 acts as the trigger for the release of a broad spectrum of cytokines. Our study aimed to understand the correlation between septic cardiomyopathy and CD14 immunohistochemical expression. The study included 29 patients who died of septic shock. Increased values of membranous CD14 and soluble CD14 in the heart tissue were correlated with adverse patient evolution. A high cellular expression of CD14 was noted in the study group vs. the control group (p = 0.0013). Therefore, a close positive association between the amount of LPS related to sCD14 and the cellular expression of mCD14 is probable. By extrapolation, we suggest that a large amount of sCD14 detected in the cardiac tissue will activate the mCD14–TRL4–LBP–LPS complex, which in turn will induce an inadequate immune response, resulting in heart damage proportional to the amount of LPS. CD14 could represent a valuable marker for septic cardiomyopathy; thus, apoptosis of cardiomyocytes could be foreseen by its high value.

Septic cardiomyopathy remains a difficult medical problem to manage in critically ill patients. With all currently available therapeutic options, the mortality rate in these patients remains high. Our study included 29 patients diagnosed clinically with sepsis. A control group was used to compare the results. In all patients, p53 expression was assessed in cardiac tissue obtained from these patients and a statistical correlation was made with clinical data. The different expression rates of p53 do not correlate with patient’s age, having appropriate means in years, but with an increasing tendency with increasing expression (p=0.2110). The pulmonary infections are responsible for the majority of the septic state in the study group (over 55%). The difference between the infection sites is statistically significant (p<0.0001).