TNF and Sepsis: Since results from several studies indicate that the relationship between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines influences the severity of sepsis [40], and TNFα/IL-10 ratios are used as an indicator for disease severity [41], we calculated the ratios of pro- to anti-inflammatory cytokines (Table 3) and found that lidocaine increased these values in the late phase (12 and 24 h after zymosan).