An improved understanding of the pathogenesis of sepsis and other life-threatening infections caused by CA-MRSA bacteria could expedite the development of novel strategies for the diagnosis, treatment, and/or prevention of these serious infections. CA-MRSA infections often are associated with severe and prolonged host inflammatory responses [43] [44] [45] [46] . Prompt antibiotic treatment of these and other serious bacterial infections is indicated, but paradoxically has the potential to trigger excessive release of bacterial products and the subsequent augmentation of the host inflammatory response [15, 16] . Macrophages are important sources of many of the proinflammatory cytokines (including IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, and TNF) secreted in response to staphylococci and other Gram-positive bacteria [15, 16, 41] . Although the cytokine cascade is essential for normal host defense, excessive or inappropriate inflammation can be harmful. Therefore we need an improved understanding of these interactions in order to develop better adjunctive therapies for patients with severe bacterial infections.