Experimental human sepsis models

Human models that adequately mimic the clinical and pathological sequelae of sepsis are not available. Intravenous injection of lipopolysaccharide (a component of the gram-negative bacterial cell wall) into healthy humans has been used as a model with some relevance for sepsis, in particular to study mechanisms that may contribute to induction of pro- and anti-inflammatory pathways and to obtain proof of principle for the action of new anti-inflammatory compounds in a controlled setting in humans.