Outcomes
death, bloodstream infections, ICU-acquired infections, postextubation pneumonia
INTRA-ABDOMINAL INFECTION, SECONDARY, BLOODSTREAM INFECTION, VENTILATOR-ASSOCIATED PNEUMONIA
The primary outcome was the SOFA score on day 7. In cases of death or discharge from the ICU before day 7, the last-observation-carried-forward method was used.The secondary outcomes were (1) SOFA score on day 3; (2) proportion of patients with an improvement in the SOFA score (defined as a decrease in total SOFA score by 2 points or more between day 1 and day 7 or discharge from the ICU due to improved clinical status); (3) mHLA-DR expression on day 1, day 3, and day 7; (4) plasma concentration of IL-6 on day 1, day 3, and day 7; (5) plasma concentrations of amino acids (arginine, citrulline, glutamate, glutamine, ornithine, proline, and tryptophan (and kynurenine)) on day 1, day 3, and day 7; (6) incidence of ICU-acquired infections; (7) length of ICU or hospital stay; (8) hospital and ICU survival; and (9) length of mechanical ventilation. All ICU-acquired infections were recorded, including ventilator-associated pneumonia, postextubation pneumonia, bloodstream infections, intra-abdominal infection, 