Mitochondrial debris from damaged cells can cause inflammation, warn US scientists in the journal Nature.
This finding helps to understand why sepsis sometimes develops after severe injuries, even though the patient’s body is not infected with a bacterial infection.
In the blood of severely injured patients, remnants of mitochondria can be found, said Carl Hauser and colleagues from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. The remnants of mitochondria from damaged cells can activate the so-called white blood cells. neutrophils, causing inflammation throughout the body and damage to many organs.
Mitochondria are cellular organelles necessary for energy production. As one of the few structures, cells have a double membrane, their own DNA and are derived from bacteria. According to the authors of the study, the similarity of the genetic material of mitochondria and bacteria may be sufficient to activate the immune system and induce a sepsis-like state. (PAP)