Mediators of Sepsis

A review of the role of mediators in severe sepsis, which presents new experimental and clinical information. The contributors discuss how interference with the activation of mediator systems - now recognized as the pathophysiological basis of sepsis - offers promising therapeutic approaches.

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This is a comprehensive review by internationally recognized experts of the role of mediators in severe sepsis. It comprises recent knowledge in a rapidly evolving field and presents new experimental and clinical data. Excessive activation of a wide array of mediator systems and their interactions with blood-borne and endothelial cells is now recognized as the pathophysiological basis of what is clinically recognized as sepsis. Interference with these activated mediators offers highly promising therapeutic approaches which are extensively discussed.