At baseline , plasma TNF - levels were higher in patients with VAP and Candida compared to the observational group ( mean SD ) ( 21.8 23.1 versus 12.4 9.3 pg/ml , p = 0.02 ) and these patients had lower innate immune function as evidenced by reduced whole blood ex vivo LPS-induced TNF - production capacity ( 854.8 855.2 versus 1,559.4 1,290.6 pg/ml , p = 0.01 ) .