In another exciting line of clinical research, the metabolic alterations of subcutaneous fat tissue were characterised by microdialysis [28] . These researchers found that tissue glycerol and glucose levels were higher during septic shock than during severe sepsis. In contrast, lactate, pyruvate and lactate-to-pyruvate ratios were similar in both conditions. These important findings are likely to change our understanding of the role of fat tissue in the metabolic response to sepsis.