Although serum creatinine and cystatin C were elevated in CLP mice in comparison to naive mice, significant increases were seen only in moderately-to-severely septic mice (MSS of 7–12 and 13+, respectively), and not in mice with mild sepsis (MSS ≤ 4), which represent the early stage of sepsis (Fig. 2a, b). Here, CST3 is linked to Sepsis.