Inflammatory cytokines and organ dysfunction associate with the aberrant DNA methylome of monocytes in sepsis.

Background: Sepsis, a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated systemic immune response to infection, associates with reduced responsiveness to subsequent infections. How such tolerance is acquired is not well understood but is known to involve epigenetic and transcriptional dysregulation.

Methods: Bead arrays were used to compare global DNA methylation changes in patients with sepsis, non-infectious systemic inflammatory response syndrome, and healthy controls.