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Precision Immunotherapy to Improve Sepsis Outcomes: The ImmunoSep Randomized Clinical Trial

E. Giamarellos-Bourboulis, A. Kotsaki, I. Kotsamidi, Aikaterini Efthymiou, V. Koutsoukou, J. Ehler, Alexandra Paridou, F. Frantzeskaki et al.

Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 2025

672 participants · 100 citations

Abstract

Importance

Sepsis is heterogeneous, and the optimal strategy for tailoring immunotherapy is uncertain.

Objective

To investigate whether precision immunotherapy guided by the presence of macrophage activation-like syndrome or sepsis-induced immunoparalysis improves organ dysfunction by day 9.

Design, Setting, and Participants

A randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted in 6 countries. Patients with sepsis, defined by Sepsis-3, were included if they had community-acquired or hospital-acquired pneumonia or ventilator-associated pneumonia or bacteremia and sepsis and had displayed either macrophage activation-like syndrome (blood ferritin >4420 ng/mL) or sepsis-induced immunoparalysis (blood ferritin ≤4420 ng/mL and <5000 human leukocyte antigen DR receptors on CD45/CD14 monocytes). The first patient was enrolled August 5, 2021, and the last follow-up, April 29, 2024.

Interventions

Eligible patients were randomized to receive standard care and precision immunotherapy or standard care and placebo. Those in the precision immunotherapy group with macrophage activation-like syndrome received anakinra intravenously (IV) and placebo subcutaneously, and those with sepsis-induced immunoparalysis received subcutaneous recombinant human interferon gamma and IV placebo. Those in the placebo group received both IV and subcutaneous placebo. Treatment was administered for up to 15 days.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The primary end point was a decrease…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 672 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

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