Smart L, et al. - In Emergency Department (ED) patients with sepsis due to pneumonia, researchers examined the temporal patterns of three endothelial glycocalyx (EG) biomarkers, including endocan, and their associations with inflammation and respiratory failure. They used mixed regression models to assess the change in plasma concentrations of endocan, syndecan-1, and hyaluronan over time. They also examined biomarker associations with inflammatory cytokine concentrations and with respiratory failure on days 1, 2 or 3, need for mechanical ventilation and 30-day mortality. They found an association of syndecan-1, but not of endocan, with neutrophil activation. They also noted that adverse clinical outcomes in such a population were best predicted by syndecan-1.