Introduction:In this study, we report on initial efforts to discover putative biomarkers for differential diagnosis of a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) versus sepsis; and different stages of sepsis. In addition, we also investigated whether there are proteins that can discriminate between patients who survived sepsis from those who did not.Materials and Methods:Our study group consisted of 16 patients, of which 6 died and 10 survived. We daily measured 28 plasma proteins, for the whole stay of the patients in the ICU.Results:We observed that metalloproteinases and sE-selectin play a role in the distinction between SIRS and sepsis, and that IL-1α, IP-10, sTNF-R2 and sFas appear to be indicative for the progression from sepsis to septic shock. A combined measurement of MMP-3, -10, IL-1α, IP-10, sIL-2R, sFas, sTNF-R1, sRAGE, GM-CSF, IL-1β and Eotaxin allows for a good separation of patients that survived from those that died (mortality prediction with a sensitivity of 79% and specificity of 86%). Correlation analysis suggests a novel interaction between IL-1α and IP-10.Conclusion:The marker panel is ready to be verified in a validation study with or without therapeutic intervention