SCCMPod-564 CCE: Endotoxin Activity and Precision Medicine in Septic Shock

About this episode

This episode discusses high endotoxin activity as a possible endotype for septic shock and its implications for identifying patients at higher risk of death.

There is enormous heterogeneity in clinical outcomes and severity of septic shock, with some patients needing only supportive care in the ICU and others progressing to multiorgan system failure and death. How can clinicians identify patients at higher risk of death? In this episode of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) Podcast, host Marilyn Bulloch, PharmD, BCPS, FCCM, is joined by John A. Kellum, MD, FCCM, to discuss high endotoxin activity as a possible endotype for septic shock. Dr. Kellum’s article, “Organ Failure, Endotoxin Activity, and Mortality in Septic Shock,” was published in the September 2025 compendium of Critical Care Explorations. Dr. Kellum is a professor and director of the Center for Critical Care Nephrology, as well as vice chair for the Department of Critical Care Medicine, at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The study used a novel biomarker called the endotoxin activity assay (EAA) to detect endotoxin in the blood. While the EAA is not good at identifying patients who are at risk for sepsis, Dr. Kellum said that, when combined with organ failure, it identifies patients at high risk for endotoxic septic shock. In the…

People in this episode

Host: Marilyn Bulloch

Guest: John A. Kellum

Topics covered

• septic shock
• endotoxin activity
• precision medicine
• clinical outcomes
• mortality risk

Keywords

• septic shock
• endotoxin activity assay
• mortality rate
• precision medicine
• organ failure

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Society of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh

Books & works: Organ Failure, Endotoxin Activity, and Mortality in Septic Shock

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