Leukocyte phenotyping in sepsis using omics, functional analysis and in silico modeling.

ABSTRACT: Sepsis is a major health issue and a leading cause of death in hospitals globally. The treatment of sepsis is largely supportive and there are no therapeutics available that target the underlying pathophysiology of the disease. The development of therapeutics for the treatment of sepsis is hindered by the heterogeneous nature of the disease. The presence of multiple, distinct immune phenotypes ranging from hyperimmune to immunosuppressed can significantly impact the host response to infection. Recently, omics, biomarkers, cell surface protein expression and immune cell profiles have been utilized to classify immune status of sepsis patients. However, there has been limited studies of immune cell function during sepsis and even fewer correlating omics and biomarker alterations to functional consequences. In this review, we will discuss how the heterogeneity of sepsis and associated immune cell phenotypes result from changes in the omic make-up of cells and its correlation with leukocyte dysfunction. We will also discuss how emerging techniques such as in silico modeling and machine learning can help in phenotyping sepsis patients leading to precision medicine.