Immunosuppression in Sepsis

Abundant evidence exists in both animals and humans with sepsis for the appearance of a “cytokine storm,” characterized by high plasma levels of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines,¹ clinical signs of fever, tachycardia, and tachypnea and followed rapidly by development of shock, multiorgan failure, and death.² Additional evidence indicates that sepsis can be associated with a state of immunosuppression, broadly defined as lymphopenia and loss of immune function, though the timing, incidence, and nature of the immunosuppression remain poorly characterized, especially in humans.³