Journal Article

Convergence of sepsis-associated encephalopathy pathogenesis onto microglia

Liu, Chunmao, Yang, Yunshu, Yang, Guodong, Du, Yuting, Liang, Wanting, Wei, Mengying, Xiao, Dan, Yang, Yang, Wang, Xiao, Xu, Feiyang

2025

Overview

Sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) is a neurological dysfunction induced by sepsis, with symptoms ranging from mild delirium to deep coma. About 70% of patients with severe systemic infection develop SAE and with more than half of surviving patients suffering from long-term cognitive deficits, which seriously damaged the quality of their daily life and brought a heavy burden to society. The pathogenesis of SAE is multifactorial, including activated inflammation, blood- brain barrier (BBB) disruption, cerebral blood flow impairment, and neurotransmitter disturbances. Microglia mediate multiple SAE pathologies. In this review, we summarized the most recent findings in the roles of microglia in every stage of SAE pathogenesis, focusing on the molecular pathways in microglia activation and downstream effects. We also demonstrated the novel therapeutic studies targeting microglia in SAE. Deep insight into the role of microglia in SAE is of great importance in exploring pathogenesis and developing effective remedies of SAE.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,BMC
• Subject: Animals / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biomedicine / Blood-Brain Barrier - pathology / Complications and side effects / Encephalopathy / Glycometabolism / Humans / Inflammation - pathology / Lipid metabolism / Medical research / Medicine, Experimental / Medicine/Public Health / Microglia - metabolism / Microglia - pathology / Microglia activation / Neuroinflammation / Neurological dysfunction / Neuroscience / Physiological aspects / Review / Risk factors / Sepsis / Sepsis - complications / Sepsis - pathology / Sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) / Sepsis-Associated Encephalopathy - etiology / Sepsis-Associated Encephalopathy - pathology