ANGPT2 and septic shock: In sepsis, angiopoietin-2 is considered a key protein in the regulation of vascular permeability and endothelial activation, which is underlined by clinical data that suggest associations of angiopoietin-2 levels and sepsis-associated mortality, associations of angiopoietin-2 levels with fluid overload in septic shock patients, and by animal models showing benefits of angiopoietin-2 blockade (13, 34, 35).