Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Reports Findings in Sepsis [A Tagging Polymorphism in Fat Mass and Obesity-Associated (FTO) Gene Is Associated with Sepsis Status in Children].

A recent study conducted at the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Prague, Czech Republic, has found a potential association between a variant of the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene and the risk of sepsis in children and adolescents. The researchers compared a group of pediatric patients admitted to an intensive care unit with a control group of healthy young adults and observed a lower prevalence of a specific genotype in patients with severe illness. The study suggests that this common polymorphism may be a predictor of sepsis in pediatric patients, and that higher body weight may be protective against this complication. [Extracted from the article]