Defining Circulating Micro-RNA Biomarkers for the Early Diagnosis and Prognosis of Sepsis

The objectives are to: 1. derive and validate a panel of miRNAs that are consistently differentially expressed in the plasma of patients with and without sepsis 2. investigate the prognostic and predictive values of the panel of miRNAs to guide treatment 3. investigate the roles of these differentially-expressed circulating miRNAs in immune modulation during sepsis The methodology involves sampling of blood from controls and subjects in the sepsis continuum at their earliest presentation in the emergency department longitudinally to hospitalization. The investigators will develop panels of miRNAs that are specific to early and late stages of sepsis, and correlate clinical, biochemical and microbiological outcomes with these miRNAs.