CytoSorbents announces study on CytoSorb hemoperfusion

CytoSorbents highlights the recently published study entitled, "CytoSorb hemoperfusion markedly attenuates circulating cytokine concentrations during systemic inflammation in humans in vivo" in the renowned medical journal "Critical Care." In this landmark publication, leading sepsis researchers in the group of Prof. Dr. Peter Pickkers from Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands convincingly demonstrate the robust ability of CytoSorb to rapidly reduce cytokine storm during systemic hyperinflammation in a well-controlled and well-established human experimental sepsis model. In this clinical study, Jensen, et al., intravenously administered bacterial lipopolysaccharide endotoxin – a dangerous toxin found on the surface of most Gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli, Pseudomonas, and Klebsiella – to twenty-four healthy male volunteers. Endotoxin is a common culprit in sepsis that potently activates the immune system, triggering the high production of cytokines, often called a "cytokine storm," and severe inflammation. Extracorporeal blood purification with CytoSorb was then used to treat half of the volunteers for a total of 6 hours. Baseline demographic characteristics between those that received CytoSorb therapy and those that did not were similar. All other interventions between the two groups were identical. Cytokine measurements were taken every hour or half-hour throughout the experiment. Intravenous administration of endotoxin resulted in impressive transient increases in cytokine concentrations in the control group, characteristic of levels seen in a true cytokine storm. Meanwhile, the CytoSorb group had significantly lower plasma levels of cytokines, including TNF and MIP-1a, showing that CytoSorb profoundly attenuates the increase in circulating cytokine concentrations during endotoxin-induced systemic inflammation in humans. This result is very clinically relevant, as the severity and duration of cytokine storm and inflammation in sepsis are directly correlated with life-threatening complications such as shock, respiratory failure, and other organ failure, and the risk of death.