Animal procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care Ethical Committee. Under Ketamine/Xylasine/Isoflurane anesthesia, severe sepsis was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats using cecal ligation double puncture (2CLP) [14] . 1.25 × 10 8 IU/ml (infectious units) of SV/luc in 300 μl PBS were administered via a tracheal catheter to 2CLP and sham operated (SO) rats immediately after the procedure and to unoperated (UO) rats. In the positive control group, 10 9 IU/Ad/luc in 300 μl PBS were administered in the same way to 2CLP animals [15] . Negative control animals received PBS only.