Plasma ferritin, IL-6, sTfR/log ferritin and the RDW had lower AUCs than the SOFA score (all P < 0.05) but plasma hepcidin had an AUC similar to the SOFA score, which suggested its similarity to the SOFA score for predicting the 28-day mortality of patients with sepsis. The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is Sepsis.