Murton A, Bohanon FJ, Ogunbileje JO, et al. - Among septic (n = 13) and nonseptic patients (n = 11) (age: 36.9 ± 13.0 years) suffering burns encompassing > 30% of their total body surface area, researchers determined the exact influences of sepsis on the whole body and muscle metabolism in the burn patients. They used qPCR to evaluate muscle mRNA levels of genes involved in the development of muscle cachexia. In severe burn patients, the main metabolic result of sepsis was accelerated muscle proteolysis. In these individuals, the possible contribution of accelerated muscle proteolysis to the accelerated loss of muscle mass was suggested.