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A study led by Gerardo Aguilar a professor from the Univeristat de València, on investigation of new biomarkers—biological indicators that measure bodily processes—related to the immune system’s response, with the aim of improving early diagnosis and treatment of patients with sepsis through precision medicine. The study is part of a multicenter project already underway in three other autonomous communities.
This study was promoted thanks to the collaboration between Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria INCLIVA, del Hospital Clínico Universitario de València and Viva In Vitro Diagnostics,a spanish company specialized in research and development of solutions and services in the fields of biotechnology and immunology.
To be specific, the research is focused on the functional activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and other associated interleukins, key mechanisms of the innate immune system that regulate the body’s inflammatory response and whose disruption may influence the clinical course of patients. Its analysis can contribute in relevant data on early diagnosis, potential severity, clinical course, and prognosis of patients.
The experience of the professor Gerardo Aguilar (Department of Surgery of the UV) allows to advance in inclusion of patients with sepsis treated in both the emergency department and the intensive care unit, in order to assess the clinical value of these biomarkers in a real-world clinical setting. In this regard, Aguilar expressed the gratitude to Viva In Vitro Diagnostics, founded as a spin-off of the Murcia Institute for Biomedical Research (IMIB) in 2021, for the trust placed in him, in the University Clinical Hospital of Valencia, and in INCLIVA to lead this line of research, and expressed his “conviction that this collaboration will contribute significantly to generating solid clinical evidence and bringing precision medicine closer to daily clinical practice.”
Gerardo Aguilar is the chief of la Unidad de Cuidados Críticos del Servicio de Anestesiología del Hospital Clínico Universitario de València (the Critical Care Unit of the Anesthesiology Department of the Clinical University Hospital of Valencia) and a professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry of the Universitat de València In addition, Aguilar is a researcher in the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC) at the Carlos III Health Institute.
The CEO of Viva in Vitro Diagnostics, Antonio Vilaplana, emphasized that the agreement “represents a significant step forward in the clinical validation of diagnostic solutions based on NLRP3 inflammasome activation and in the development of tools that facilitate earlier immunological stratification and better therapeutic decision-making in sepsis.”
Toward a robust multicenter clinical validation
The incorporation of the Hospital Clínico Universitario de València reinforces the the multicenter nature of the study and helps advance translational immunology into the real-world hospital setting. The expansion to the Valencian healthcare system increases the diversity of patients included and strengthens the clinical evidence needed for the future application of this technology.
In this context, the technology VIVA-ELISA® based on the quantification of molecular signals associated with NLRP3 inflammasome activation, aims to provide functional information on the state of the patient's innate immune system. This approach represents an improvement over conventional biomarkers by enabling an earlier and more accurate assessment of the risk of an unfavorable clinical outcome in critically ill patients.
The development of tools capable of predicting immune dysfunction can help improve therapeutic decision-making, personalize treatment, and reduce mortality associated with sepsis, one of the leading causes of in-hospital death worldwide.
