Similarly, the amounts of TNF in supernatants from CB-stimulated PBMCs were significantly (p = 0.04 and p = 0.05, respectively) lower in the patients with severe sepsis (59 [35–290] pg/ml) than in the healthy controls (311 [169–791] pg/ml) and the patients with cured Q fever (480 [292–647] pg/ml) (Fig 3A). Here, TNF is linked to Sepsis.