Rho kinases (ROCKs) in sepsis-induced acute lung injury

Sepsis is a life-threatening syndrome which develops through the systemic inflammatory response to infection or extensive tissue damage and is manifested by varying degrees of hypotension, coagulopathy, and multiorgan dysfunction. Sepsis is the systemic response to infection and the host responds by producing mediators and proinflammatory cytokines (1-3). Although triggering the inflammatory response is generally considered as protective against pathogenic threats, the interplay between the signaling pathways that are induced or suppressed during sepsis may harm the host.