Fig. 3. Markers for hepatic dysfunction strongly correlate with MSS in CLP mice.

a Twenty-four hours post-CLP, mice with severe sepsis (MSS > 13) had a slight and insignificant (P > 0.93) increase in total bilirubin serum concentration, while b increases in ALT and c AST levels were significantly correlated with sepsis severity. d Alkaline phosphatase and e albumin levels were significantly decreased with sepsis severity, while f globulin serum concentrations were not significantly altered. g Glucose levels of septic mice, predominantly in mildly septic mice (MSS 1–4), were lower than those in naive mice. Data are presented as the median within the inter-quartile range (IQR); mean values are marked with a ‘+’ sign; error bars represent the minimum and maximum; group sizes (N) are indicated below their respective legends; *P ≤ 0.01, **P ≤ 0.001, ***P ≤ 0.0001 by the Kruskal–Wallis nonparametric ANOVA, with multiple-comparisons adjusted using Dunn’s test. P values above the bars indicate the significant differences from the control group, and those above the brackets indicate the significant differences between the two other groups.