Circulating Toll-like receptor and cytokine profiles and genetic polymorphisms in a Chinese sepsis cohort: potential links to neuroinflammation and blood–brain barrier dysfunction

Circulating up-regulation of the TLR-cytokine axis and susceptibility-associated polymorphisms in TLR and cytokine genes support a genetic-inflammatory framework for sepsis in this Chinese cohort, with potential relevance to pathways implicated in sepsis-related neuroinflammation and BBB dysfunction. Because central nervous system involvement and BBB integrity were not directly measured in this study, these links should be regarded as inferential. The present findings motivate further studies incorporating direct central nervous system and BBB endpoints and external validation cohorts, and may inform future biomarker-guided risk stratification strategies.