Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a has been implicated in the pathogenesis of septic shock. TNF inhibitors resulted in increased survival in experimental sepsis [136] ; however, no anti-TNF agent modified survival in clinical sepsis trials [137] . Fluid therapy may itself have antiinflammatory effects [138] , but is rarely employed in preclinical sepsis models. Therefore, Qiu et al. [139] analysed whether the combination of TNFsr and fluids would be beneficial. They reported that the individual survival benefits of TNFsr and fluids were not additive in a rat sepsis model.