Recombinant soluble thrombomodulin: coagulation takes another chance to reduce sepsis mortality

The striking coagulopathy in patients with severe sepsis and the increasing insight into the intricate link between inflammation and coagulation has been an inspiration for many researchers and pharmaceutical companies to explore potential therapeutic interventions for severe sepsis [1]. Indeed, in view of the high incidence of severe sepsis and sepsis mortality ranging from 20 to 50%, there is a urgent need for better treatment options [2]. As dysfunctional physiological anticoagulant regulators, such as antithrombin, activated protein C, and tissue factor pathway inhibitor, were shown to be key players in the sepsis-associated activation of coagulation, and animal studies supported the hypothesis that restoration of these pathways resulted in attenuation of coagulopathy and organ dysfunction and reduced mortality, large clinical studies were performed to establish the beneficial effect of these interventions in patients with severe sepsis [2-5]. Although some of these studies demonstrated some advantage in subgroups of patients with most extreme coagulopathies an overall reduction in mortality was not confirmed. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved