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Sepsis remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the intensive care unit (68), affecting more than 500,000 patients per year in the United States (39). The incidence is increasing despite the major advances in the development of antimicrobial agents and other supportive treatments (56). Septic patients often succumb to a systemic inffammatory response, of which multiple organ failure is a main complication. There is no definitive treatment for multiple organ failure other than supportive treatment, such as assisted ventilation or renal dialysis. Research efforts now heavily focus on the mechanisms of multiple organ failure, with the hope that treatment options can be identified through a better understanding of these mechanisms. One current theory implicates an inappropriate cytokine response as the main protagonist in the development of multiple organ failure following an inffammatory stimulus (35, 48 …