Volume 60, Issue 2 pp. 213-221
Original Article

Glucocorticoid receptor expression and binding capacity in patients with burn injury

M. Bergquist

Corresponding Author

M. Bergquist

Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Physiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Department of Rheumatology and Inflammation Research, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

Correspondence

M. Bergquist, Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Physiology, Uppsala University, S-75185 Uppsala, Sweden

E-mail: [email protected]

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F. Huss

F. Huss

Uppsala Burn Center, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden

Department of Surgical Sciences, Plastic Surgery, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

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J. Hästbacka

J. Hästbacka

Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

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C. Lindholm

C. Lindholm

Department of Rheumatology and Inflammation Research, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

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C. Martijn

C. Martijn

Department of Chemistry, Biomedical Center, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

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C. Rylander

C. Rylander

Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden

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G. Hedenstierna

G. Hedenstierna

Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Physiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

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F. Fredén

F. Fredén

Uppsala Burn Center, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden

Department of Surgical Sciences, Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

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First published: 04 September 2015
Citations: 4

Conflicts of interest:

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding:

This work was supported by grant 5315 from the Swedish Research Council and by grants from the Swedish Society of Medicine, local funds from Uppsala County Council (ALF project) and the Inga-Britt and Arne Lundberg Foundation.

Abstract

Background

Burn injuries are associated with strong inflammation and risk of secondary sepsis which both may affect the function of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). The aim of this study was to determine GR expression and binding capacity in leucocytes from patients admitted to a tertiary burn center.

Methods

Blood was sampled from 13 patients on admission and days 7, 14 and 21, and once from 16 healthy subjects. Patients were grouped according to the extent of burn and to any sepsis on day 7. Expression and binding capacity of GR were determined as arbitrary units using flow cytometry.

Results

GR expression and binding capacity were increased compared to healthy subjects in most circulating leucocyte subsets on admission irrespective of burn size. Patients with sepsis on day 7 displayed increased GR expression in T lymphocytes (51.8%, < 0.01) compared to admission. There was a negative correlation between GR binding capacity in neutrophils and burn size after 14 days (< 0.05).

Conclusions

GR expression and binding capacity are increased in most types of circulating leucocytes of severely burned patients on their admission to specialized burn care. If sepsis is present after 1 week, it is associated with higher GR expression in T lymphocytes and NK cells.

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