TY - JOUR AB - Heparinase (HPA) is a β‑D glucuronidase that belongs to the endoglycosidase enzyme family, and plays an important role in numerous pathological and physiological processes, including inflammation, angiogenesis and tumor metastasis. When the expression of HPA is abnormally high, the side chain of heparin sulfate proteoglycans degrades, destroying the cell barrier and leading to the occurrence and development of inflammation, with systemic inflammation occurring in severe cases. Sepsis is a major cause of mortality in critically ill patients. In sepsis, the gastrointestinal tract is the first and most frequently involved target organ, which often leads to gastrointestinal dysfunction. HPA overexpression has been determined to accelerate sepsis progression and gastrointestinal dysfunction; thus, it was hypothesized that HPA may play an important role and may serve as an index for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal dysfunction in sepsis. HPA inhibitors may therefore become applicable as targeted drugs for the treatment of gastrointestinal dysfunction in patients with sepsis. The present review mainly discussed the role of HPA in gastrointestinal dysfunction of sepsis. AD - The First Clinical Medical School of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, P.R. China Department of Emergency Critical Care Medicine, The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, P.R. China AU - Chen,Ting-Ting AU - Lv,Jia-Jun AU - Chen,Ling AU - Gao,Yu-Wei AU - Liu,Li-Ping DA - 2022/02/01 DO - 10.3892/etm.2021.11042 IS - 2 JO - Exp Ther Med KW - heparinase inflammation sepsis gastrointestinal dysfunction acute gastrointestinal injury PY - 2022 SN - 1792-0981 1792-1015 SP - 119 ST - Role of heparinase in the gastrointestinal dysfunction of sepsis (Review) T2 - Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine TI - Role of heparinase in the gastrointestinal dysfunction of sepsis (Review) UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2021.11042 VL - 23 ER -