Interestingly, the expression of Inhba, Smad3, Acvr1b, Acvr2a, Stat5a, and Stat5b was all higher in the macrophages of patients compared with healthy volunteers (Supplemental Figure 9F), suggesting that the activin A/Smad3/STAT5 axis is also involved in human sepsis. Here, SMAD3 is linked to Sepsis.