Because these modifications are predominantly associated with a higher transcriptional activity [28], RNA from circulating CD14++ monocytes was used for reverse transcription and subsequent qPCR using TaqMan Assays against CIITA. Patients with postoperative sepsis were characterized by a strong decline in CIITA mRNA expression compared to surgical control patients (****p<0.0001, control vs sepsis T1, Fig 4A). Here, CIITA is linked to Sepsis.