Table 3.

Study results

			Infection		MOF, Mortality		Inflammation
Test intervention		Study	Test group (relative to control)	Effect	Test group (relative to control)	Effect	Test group (relative to control)	Effect
Reduce immune paralysis	Plasma expander	Miller & Lim, 1985 [14]			Mortality 0 vs 0 n.s.	No effect	immune reactive capacity n.s.	No effect
		Rizoli et al, 2006 [27]	pneumonia 0.5% vs 0.5% n.s.	No effect	Mortality 0 vs 14.3% n.s., MOF score 1.68 vs 1.9 n.s.	No effect	WBC n.s.; decreased toward normal: CD11b, CD62L, CD16, and TNFα; increased toward normal: CD14, IL-1RA, and IL-10 all P < 0.05	SIRS↓ and CARS↓↑
		Bulger et al, 2008 [19]	nosocomial infections 18.2% vs 15.2% n.s.	No effect	ARDS-free survival, MOF, mortality 29.1% vs 22.2% n.s.	No effect
	Immuno-globulin	Glinz et al, 1985 [20]	any 47% vs 68% P = 0.02, pneumonia 37% vs 58% P = 0.01, sepsis 18% vs 26% n.s.	↓	Mortality from infection* 12% vs 11% n.s.	No effect	acute phase proteins n.s.	No effect
		Douzinas et al, 2000 [32]	pneumonia 10% vs 61% P = 0.003	↓	Mortality rom infection* 0 vs 0	No effect	C3 and CH50 n.s., C4 increased p = 0.04, increased serum bactericidal activity P < 0.000001	CARS↓
	IFN- γ	Polk et al, 1992 [22]	major 39% vs 35%, minor 20% vs 28%, pneumonia 27% vs 24% n.s.	No effect	Mortality 9.2% vs 12.5% n.s.	No effect	HLA-DR increased P = 0.0001	CARS↓
		Livingston et al, 1994 [31]	major infection 48% vs 31% n.s.	No effect			WBC decreased P < 0.05, HLA-DR increased P < 0.05	SIRS↓ and CARS↓
		Dries et al, 1998 [18]	major infection 49% vs 58% n.s.	No effect	Mortality 13% vs 42% P = 0.017	↓	TNFα, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6 n.s.	No effect
		Nakos et al, 2002 [26]	ventilator-associated pneumonia 9% vs 50% p < 0.05	↓	Mortality 27% vs 40% n.s.	No effect	HLA-DR expression, IL-1β, phospholipase A2 all increasedP < 0.05; total cells in BAL and IL-10 decreased P < 0.01	SIRS↓ and CARS↓
	Glucan	Browder et al, 1990 [29]	sepsis 9.5% vs 49% P < 0.05	↓	Mortality from sepsis* 0 vs 18% n.s.	No effect	IL-1β decreased P < 0.05, TNFα n.s.	SIRS↓
		de Felippe et al, 1993 [30]	pneumonia 9.5% vs 55% P < 0.01, sepsis 9.9% vs 35% P < 0.05, either or both 14.3% vs 65% P < 0.001	↓	Mortality: general 23.5% vs 42.1%, related to infection 4.8% vs 30% P < 0.05	↓
Reduce hyper inflammation	Superoxide dismutase	Marzi et al, 1993 [25]			Mortality 17% vs 8.3% n.s. MOF score n.s.	No effect	WBC count, CRP, PMN-elastase and IL-6 n.s.; phospholipase A2 and conjugated dienes decreased P < 0.05	SIRS↓
	Antithrombin III	Waydhas et al, 1998 [28]			Mortality 15% vs 5%, MOF 20% vs 30% n.s	No effect	soluble TNF receptor II, neutrophil elastase, IL-RA, IL-6, and IL-8 n.s.	No effect
	Anti-CD18	Rhee et al, 2000 [23]	major and minor 38% vs 40% n.s.	No effect	Mortality 5.8% vs 6.7%, MOF score n.s.	No effect	WBC increased P-value not reported	SIRS↑
	Anti-L-Selectin	Seekamp et al, 2004 [16]	67% vs 55% n.s.	No effect	MOF n.s., mortality 11% vs 25% n.s.	No effect	WBC, IL-6, IL-10, neutrophil elastase, C3a, procalcitonin n.s.	No effect
	Leukoreduced blood	Nathens et al, 2006 [21]	30% vs 36% n.s.	No effect	Mortality 19% vs 15% n.s. MOF score 6.6 vs 5.9 n.s.	No effect
	Perflubron	Croce et al, 1998 [24]	pneumonia 50% vs 3 75% n.s.	No effect	Mortality 8.3% vs 25% n.s.	No effect	WBC, neutrophils, IL-6, and IL-10 all decreased p < 0.01; capillary leak (BAL protein), TNFα, IL-1β, and IL-8 n.s.	SIRS↓
	Prostaglandin E1	Vassar et al, 1991 [15]	sepsis 28% vs 30%, major wound inf. 65% vs 72%, n.s.	No effect	Mortality 26% vs 28%, ARDS 13% vs 32%, MOF 30% vs 32% n.s.	No effect	PMN superoxide production increased toward normal P < 0.02	CARS↓

ARDS, acute respiratory distress syndrome; CARS, compensatory anti-inflammatory response syndrome; CRP, C-reactive protein; HLA, human leukocyte antigen; IL, interleukin; MOF, multiple organ failure; n.s., not significant; PMN, polymorphnuclear; SIRS, systemic inflammatory response syndrome; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; *, excluding deaths from cardiac arrhythmias secondary to a pulmonary embolus and myocardial infarction, intracranial pressure, and tracheostomy.