Accordingly, circulating levels of mediators of EB integrity and angiogenesis such as VEGF-A and angiopoietins have been associated with the severity of sepsis and septic shock in humans (Alves et al., 2011; Flemming et al., 2015; Seol et al., 2020), and inhibition of these pathways have been shown to improve outcomes in animal models of sepsis and cellular models of COVID-19. The gene discussed is VEGFA; the disease is COVID-19.