TLR4 and susceptibility to pneumonia measurement: Consistently, we did reveal the upregulation of TLR4, activation of NLRP3 inflammasome, enhanced cleavage of GSDMD, IL-1β and IL-18, and increased release of IL-1β and IL-18 in serum and CD14+ monocytes of pneumonia-induced sepsis patients comparing to pneumonia individuals without sepsis and healthy controls, shedding light on the importance of macrophage pyroptosis in the clinical pathogenesis of sepsis.