Figure 6. Proposed Model.

A. Sterile inflammation resulting from tissue injury caused for instance by severe trauma, surgery or radiation therapy can be monitored via the use of prototypical markers of inflammation (acute phase proteins) with ADAM9 levels increasing in concert. B. Acute infection also causes a measurable inflammatory response that is the direct result of the antimicrobial response mounted by the immune system. This response can develop in absence of substantial tissue injury and thus does not cause an increase in abundance of ADAM9. C. When substantial tissue injury occurs as a result of the infection the abundance of ADAM9 rises, which detection enables the identification and triage of critically ill subjects.