Fig. 3

Relative abundance of granulocyte precursors in the low- and high-density fractions. The proportions of granulocyte precursors and mature cells within the high-density (HD) and the low-density (LD) fractions were determined by flow cytometry in patients with (A) SIRS (n = 18), (B) sepsis (n = 17) and (C) septic shock (n = 7). Median proportions are indicated by solid horizontal lines. (D) The median differences of the cell proportions in sepsis compared to SIRS are plotted against their statistical significance. LPM: late promyelocyte; MY: myelocyte; MM: metamyelocyte; BC: band cell; PMN: polymorphonuclear neutrophil. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001, **** p < 0.0001, from the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for (A–C) and from the Mann-Whitney U test for (D)