Plasma HBP levels of ≥15 ng/mL served as a better indicator of severe sepsis (with or without septic shock) than any other laboratory parameter investigated, and these other parameters included procalcitonin (PCT), IL-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell count (WBC), and lactate (sensitivity, 87.1%; specificity, 95.1%; positive predictive value, 88.4%; negative predictive value, 94.5%). This evidence concerns the gene IL6 and Sepsis.