A Mouse Model of Burn Wounding and Sepsis

Despite major advances in the treatment of critically injured burn patients, sepsis remains a major obstacle to recovery (1 -4 ). In fact, sepsis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in this patient population (5 -6 ). Those who survive the initial injury become increasingly susceptible to septic complications during the second week of hospitalization. The majority of these patients show a severe depression of their innate immunity as evidenced by T-cell suppression and functional deficits in neutrophils and monocytes (7 -14 ).