TNF and Sepsis: The results showed that the inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6) dramatically increased in the sera of CLP-induced sepsis mice, compared to that in mice with sham surgery only or sham + rSj-Cys (ANOVA: F(3, 23) = 18.39, P < 0.0001 and F(3, 23) = 361.3, P < 0.0001, respectively) (Fig. 3a).