Ohta Y, Miyamoto K, Kawazoe Y, et al. - In view of the animal studies suggesting dexmedetomidine as efficacious in improving inflammatory response, researchers here examined whether dexmedetomidine affects the levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin, and thus inflammation, in patients with sepsis enrolled in a randomized clinical trial. They conducted the DESIRE trial, a multicenter randomized clinical trial, in which adult patients with sepsis were sedated with (DEX group) or without (non-DEX group) dexmedetomidine while on mechanical ventilators. Among 201 included patients, 100 were in the DEX group and 101 in the non-DEX group. The DEX vs. non-DEX group had lower CRP and procalcitonin levels during the 14-day treatment period. In addition, the DEX groups had higher albumin levels and lower 14-day mortality rates, compared with non-DEX groups. Per findings, patients with sepsis requiring mechanical ventilation had reduced inflammation in correlation with providing sedation using dexmedetomidine.