The effect of thymosin α1 for prevention of infection in patients with severe acute pancreatitis.

Introduction: Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is an acute inflammatory disease with prolonged clinical course, which is complicated by the presence of persistent organ failure and severe infection. Infection mainly occurs in the late phase of SAP and it is found to be the main cause of death. Therefore, developing strategies for the prevention of SAP-related infection has been a crucial approach to improve patients' outcomes. Due to remarkable immune-cells-regulating properties, thymosin 1 has been recognized as a promising immune therapy, especially in several infectious diseases. Recently, thymosin 1 has been given high expectations to exert clinical benefits in the prevention of SAP-related infection.Areas covered: The review of currently available strategies for SAP-related infection prevention and the use of thymosin 1 in SAP patients.Expert opinion: The current available strategies achieve limited success for preventing SAP-related infection. A possible explanation is that the trigger of infection, immunosuppression has not been concurrently resolved. The application of thymosin 1 in a clinical study showed a prophylactic effect against SAP-related infection. However, the use of thymosin 1 in SAP patients is still at an early stage of clinical investigation and requires high-quality and large sample size evidences.