Breakthrough in the battle to discover a sepsis cure

A REVOLUTIONARY new drug made from body fat could transform the treatment of sepsis, the deadly condition that kills more than 40,000 Britons a year.

The experimental treatment uses a hormone called resistin, found in human fat cells. Tests at the University of California found mice with sepsis had a 100 per cent survival rate when given the hormone.

Sepsis kills up to one in three victims – many within a few hours of symptoms appearing – but scientists said injecting resistin seemed to stop the lethal condition in its tracks.

Professor William Harnett, a specialist in immunology at Strathclyde University, said: ‘This is an exciting finding.

‘It’s a noteworthy development in the drive to find new treatments for sepsis.’

Many sepsis victims fall ill when germs get into the body through wounds in the skin, dental abscesses or infections in the ears, lungs or urinary tract. This can trigger a massive over-reaction by the immune system, and inflammation blocks oxygen supplies to the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys – triggering organ failure.