Sepsis is the body’s overwhelming response to an infection. It occurs when the immune system overreacts and damages the body’s own organs and tissues. Sepsis is life-threatening, yet about 1.9 million people in the United States survive it each year. More than half of sepsis-survivors face long-term complications such as problems with memory and thinking, prolonged tiredness, and muscle weakness. Researchers often link this lasting muscle weakness with reduced muscle mass during sepsis. However, symptoms sometimes persist even after the muscles have recovered, making it difficult to treat or prevent effectively.
To understand what causes long-term muscle weakness after recovery from severe sepsis, a team of scientists from the University of Kentucky used 16- to 18-month-old mice to approximate 55- to…