Relative to sepsis controls, patients with HBD + DIC were characterized by increased expression of ferritin, IL-18, sCD163, sCD25, IL-6, and CXCL10 (Fig. 2; Additional file 1: Table S3), consistent with a biomarker signature of macrophage activation (Additional file 1: Table S1). This evidence concerns the gene IL18 and Sepsis.