Table 3.
Inflammatory markers related to the severity of infection
| Variable | Healthy controls (n = 32) | Infection without SIRS (n = 20) | Sepsis (n = 56) | Severe sepsis (n = 67) | Septic shock (n = 11) | P valuea |
| HMGB1 (ng/ml) | <0.001 | |||||
| Median | 0.77 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 6.7 | 4.8 | |
| IQR | 0.6–1.5 | 1.8–5.4 | 2.9–7.1 | 4.1–11.1 | 4.1–9.2 | |
| P valueb | <0.0001 | NS | < 0.01 | NS | ||
| Lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (μg/ml) | <0.001 | |||||
| Median | 12.7 | 46.3 | 63.3 | 88.7 | 73.3 | |
| IQR | 9.8–16.8 | 23.9–64.7 | 44.8–87.9 | 61.3–129 | 62.3–91.8 | |
| P valueb | <0.0001 | <0.05 | <0.01 | NS | ||
| Procalcitonin (ng/ml) | <0.001 | |||||
| Median | 0.05 | 0.15 | 0.4 | 4.4 | 46.1 | |
| IQR | 0.04–0.06 | 0.07–0.5 | 0.13–1.3 | 1.3–22.2 | 5.9–127.5 | |
| P valueb | <0.0001 | NS | <0.0001 | <0.05 | ||
| IL-6 (pg/ml) | <0.001 | |||||
| Median | 3.4 | 23.6 | 46.9 | 120 | 6117 | |
| IQR | 3–3.7 | 12.3–46.1 | 13.9–102.9 | 35.9–661 | 110–10,212 | |
| P valueb | <0.0001 | NS | <0.001 | <0.01 | ||
| C-reactive protein (mg/l) | <0.01 | |||||
| Median | 71 | 181 | 205 | 197 | ||
| IQR | 28.5–199.5 | 120–255 | 126–306 | 146–270 | ||
| P valueb | <0.01 | NS | NS | |||
| White blood cells (× 109/l) | <0.05 | |||||
| Median | 10.4 | 11.2 | 14.8 | 16.8 | ||
| IQR | 7.2–13.9 | 8.5–16.8 | 10.5–18.5 | 7.4–25.3 | ||
| P valueb | NS | NS | NS | |||
| Neutrophils (× 109/l) | <0.01 | |||||
| Median | 7.8 | 8.9 | 12.4 | 15.5 | ||
| IQR | 5.5–11.7 | 6.5–14.7 | 7.9–16.3 | 6.4–21.8 | ||
| P valueb | NS | <0.05 | NS |
Data presented as median and interquartile range (IQR). HMGB1, high-mobility group box-1 protein; SIRS, systemic inflammatory response syndrome. aKruskal–Wallis test. bCompared with the previous group in the table (Wilcoxon's two-sample test); NS, not significant.