Low-dose glucocorticoids combined with continuous blood purification in sepsis: A comparison of inflammatory factors and T lymphocyte subsets.

Authors

Jianchao Li, Chunhui Song

Published in

Pakistan journal of pharmaceutical sciences. Volume 39. Issue 11. Pages 3515-3523. Nov 01, 2026.

Abstract

Sepsis is an infection‑induced systemic inflammatory response syndrome with poor prognosis mainly attributed to excessive inflammation and immune dysfunction. Continuous blood purification (CBP) is a core treatment and low‑dose glucocorticoids exert anti‑inflammatory and immunoregulatory effects. However, whether low-dose glucocorticoids combined with early CBP is associated with more favorable inflammatory, immune and short-term clinical outcomes than CBP alone remains unclear.
To evaluate the association of low-dose hydrocortisone combined with early CBP, compared with CBP alone, with inflammatory factors, T lymphocyte subsets and short-term prognosis in sepsis patients.
A total of 120 sepsis patients were included in a retrospective 1:1 matched cohort analysis, including 60 patients in the CBP-alone cohort and 60 patients in the LD-GCs + CBP cohort, as identified from routinely recorded clinical data. Inflammatory factors, T lymphocyte subsets, HLA‑DR, HPA axis function and clinical outcomes were evaluated.
The LD-GCs + CBP group showed lower 28-day mortality, shorter ICU stay and lower septic shock incidence than the CBP-alone group (P<0.05). Proinflammatory factors were lower, anti‑inflammatory IL‑10 higher and immune function better preserved (P<0.05). After treatment, CD3+, the CD4+/CD8+ ratio and HLA-DR were significantly higher in the LD-GCs + CBP group than in the CBP-alone group (P<0.05), whereas sCD163 was significantly lower (P<0.05).
Low-dose hydrocortisone combined with early CBP was associated with attenuated inflammatory responses, more favorable immune marker changes and improved short-term outcomes in this cohort, with manageable adverse events. These findings require confirmation in larger multicenter studies.

PMID:
42633543
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 23 Aug 2026.

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