Objective: To explore the postburn changes of the plasma levels of PGE2 and TNF alpha and their relationship with burn severity and sepsis.
Methods: Twenty-four burn patients were enrolled in the study and were randomly divided into four groups based on burn area and sepsis in reference to normal group (10 healthy adult volunteers). The plasma levels of PGE2 and TNF alpha at different postburn time points in all burn patients and in healthy volunteers were determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively.
Results: The postburn plasma PGE2 level increased in most patients but decreased in the patients with major burn or sepsis, even to the level lower than that in normal control. On the other hand, the postburn plasma TNF alpha level increased in all patients, especially obvious in those with sepsis. And the changes were not correlated to burn area and postburn time. Moreover, the postburn plasma TNF alpha level was negatively correlated to that of PGE2.
Conclusion: Decreased postburn plasma PGE2 level was correlated to high incidence of burn sepsis. And PGE2 might down-regulate TNF alpha production.