Abstract: Objective  To study the correlation between burn sepsis and 4G/5G polymorphism within the promoter region of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) gene in severely burned patients. Methods  A total of 142 patients with burn area larger than 30% of the total body surface area were collected. Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 82 patients with sepsis (the sepsis group) and 60 patients without sepsis (the control group). 4G/5G polymorphism of PAI-1 gene was determined by using allele sepcial polymerase chain reaction (AS-PCR) test. PAI-1 concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).  Results  The carrier frequency of 4G/4G genotype and the 4G allele frequency in the sepsis group were 43% and 62% respectively, which were significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, PAI-1 concentrations in the sepsis group were significantly higher (P<0.05). Compared with the 5G/5G genotype, PAI-1 concentrations were significantly higher in the 4G/4G genotype (P<0.05). Conclusion  The 4G/5G polymorphism within the promoter region of  PAI-1 gene may be associated with the susceptibility of burn sepsis, and 4G/4G genotype may be the genetic risk factors of burn sepsis. The PAI-1 concentrations in serum are raised in patients with burn sepsis.

Key words: Polymorphism, Sepsis, Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, Burn, Gene