We found several HOTAIR-associated genes to be upregulated in these septic patients, reaching 2–3 fold higher levels compared to non-infectious SIRS; stratifying according to sepsis severity highlighted angiopoietin-2, which is involved in atherosclerosis and in diabetic complications (Park et al., 2014), as increasing with the severity of sepsis, compatible with previous reports (Bopp et al., 2008; Aslan et al., 2017). Here, ANGPT2 is linked to systemic inflammatory response syndrome.