Delirium affects more than two-thirds of critically ill patients. Despite the incidence of delirium among those who are critically ill, the clinical manifestations of delirium often go unrecognized and undertreated by critical care practitioners. This study reports on the role of biologic factors, such as serum interleukins and apolipoprotein E, in the response and recovery from delirium among critically ill patients. A total of 77 critically ill patients who required 24 to 96 hours of mechanical ventilation and who were without preexisting cognitive deficits were recruited to participate in this study. Participants had daily assessments for delirium, as well as blood draws to measure their levels of interleukins, which are a group of cytokines that mediate the inflammatory response, and serum apolipoprotein E.

This study confirmed that serum apolipoprotein E was associated with interleukin expression (IL-8 and IL-10) and patients with the genetic variant, apolipoprotein E 4 allele carriers, were...

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