Effect of sex on damage produced by cecal ligation and puncture induced sepsis: experimental study in Sprague Dawley rat.

Abstract

The investigation about sex’s impact on various pathological processes is a matter of scientific importance. This project focuses on sepsis, a systemic inflammatory response that arises from an exaggerated host response to infection. This condition is responsible for high morbidity and mortality worldwide. The main objective of this project is to evaluate the influence of sex on the development of CLP-induced sepsis, as well as to assess the possible hormonal influence on the response to this process, comparing the results obtained with the published literature which concludes that the female sex presents a clinical improvement compared to the male sex, thanks to the protective effect of estrogens. For this reason, various parameters (hematological, biochemical, microbiological and cytological) obtained at different times (time 0, 7, 15, 30 and 31) were compared between two groups of rats. One group consisted of females SF (n=10) and the other one of males SM (n=13). The results obtained showed a significant increase in the clinical assessment score (increased coat ruffling and chromodacriorrhoea, decreased activity...) and in other parameters such as the microbial load present in faeces (CFU/mL), the urea value (URE) (mg/dL) in blood, the presence of bacterial colonies and their concentration (CFU/mL) in urine (URC) and the total counts of nucleated cells (TNCC) and red blood cells (RBC) in broncho-alveolar fluid (BALF) in the group of males SM. These findings suggest a worse response of the male sex compared to the female one. However, in addition to the benefits provided by estrogens that have been described, there are other theories implicating other factors in this different response, such as androgenic influence or X-linked mosaicism. Similarly, the mechanisms of action exerted by estrogens or other sex hormones on sepsis have not been fully understood, and many aspects remain to be discovered, especially with a view to therapeutic trials for use against this process, which can develop in various locations (abdominal, pulmonary, urinary, cardiovascular, etc.) and lead to significant deaths in the population.