TNF and Sepsis: Mean plasma levels of TNF-α were above the normal range (0.5–2.8 pg/ml) whilst the whole course of sepsis with a peak at day 0 (11 ± 5 pg/ml), followed by a decrease on day 2 (8 ± 5 pg/ml; P = 0.001) and day 5 (6 ± 3 pg/ml; P = 0.007), proceeding constantly until day 10 (6 ± 5 pg/ml; n.