Weidhase L, et al. - Researchers explored if Interleukin-6 (IL-6) could predict treatment success more rapidly in adults with severe sepsis and septic shock compared to procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP), via retrospectively analyzing data from adult patients with severe sepsis and septic shock managed at the medical intensive care unit (ICU) of the University Hospital Leipzig between September 2009 and January 2012. In a total of 328 patients with severe sepsis and septic shock, the median IL-6 was significantly lower in survivors than in non-survivors (114.2 pg/ml vs 746.6 pg/ml) after 48–72 h, while no significant difference was evident for PCT (5.6 vs 4.9 ng/ml) and CRP (158.5 mg/l vs 172.4 mg/l). These outcomes suggest the better predictive value of IL-6 than PCT and CRP for treatment success in predominantly non-surgical sepsis in the first 48–72 h.