Relationship Between Lipid Profile and Sepsis Outcome in Intensive Care Unit

Background: Sepsis is the leading cause of death in critically ill patients in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Lipid metabolism may change during sepsis. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the lipid profile in patients with sepsis. Methods: After approval of the local ethics committee, all adult patients admitted to a medical ICU of a tertiary teaching hospital were enrolled for one year in a prospective cross-sectional study. The inclusion criterion was the primary diagnosis of sepsis based on the probable or proved source of infection or positive blood culture. The exclusion criterion was the use of any lipid-reducing medications. The serum levels of triglyceride (TG), cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were measured for each patient on the first day after ICU admission. Patients were divided into survivors and non-survivors. Quantitative variables were reported as the mean (± SD). The independent samples t-test was used to compare the means between the two groups. Results: Of 112 patients, 24 were excluded due to the use of lipid-reducing medications. Of 88 enrolled patients, 54.5% were male. The average age was 71.49 ± 11.06 years, and the in-hospital fatality rate was 63.6%. The mean level of TG was significantly higher in survivors than in non-survivors (111.16 ± 37.83 vs. 100.75 ± 21.42 mg/dL, t = 1.429, P = 0.002). Cholesterol, LDL, and HDL levels did not show statistically significant differences between the two groups. Conclusions: Our study illustrated that a lower TG level is associated with higher mortality in patients with sepsis in the ICU. Triglyceride may be used as a clinical indicator to assess the outcome of patients with sepsis.