Enhanced understanding of the host-pathogen interaction in sepsis: new opportunities for omic approaches

Abstract

Progress in sepsis research has been severely hampered by a heterogeneous disease phenotype, limiting the interpretation of clinical trials and the development of effective therapeutic interventions. Application of omics-based methodologies is advancing understanding of the dysregulated host immune response to infection in sepsis. However, the frequently elusive nature of the infecting organism in sepsis has limited efforts to understand the effect of disease heterogeneity involving the pathogen. Recent advances in nucleic acid sequencing-based pathogen analysis provide the opportunity for more accurate and comprehensive microbiological diagnosis. In this Review, we explore how better understanding of the host-pathogen interaction can substantially enhance, and in turn benefit from, current and future application of omics-based approaches to understand the host response in sepsis. We illustrate this using recent work accounting for heterogeneity involving the pathogen. We propose that there is a timely opportunity to further resolve sepsis heterogeneity by considering host-pathogen interactions, enabling progress towards a precision medicine approach.