This work was supported by grants from the National Key Basic Research Program of China (2010CB529901 and 2010CB530600), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31100619 and 30972705), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (20110490186), the Chen-guang Plan Project of Shanghai Educational Municipal Education Commission (11CG48 and szyl0004), the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (20113107120014) and the Leading Academic Discipline Project of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (J50301) (Yuejuan Zheng, Shanghai University of T.C.M).
Approaches for controlling inflammatory responses and reducing the mortality rate of septic patients remain clinically ineffective; new drugs need to be identified that can induce anti-inflammatory responses. Ephedrin...