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Intensive Care Medicine Experimental
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Table 1 Modified MSS scoring system for monitoring of surrogate endpoints and assessment of disease severity in mouse CLP sepsis, adapted from Shrum et al. [4]

From: Body temperature and mouse scoring systems as surrogate markers of death in cecal ligation and puncture sepsis

Murine Sepsis Score (MSS)
Score 0 1 2 3
Appearance Smooth coat Slightly ruffled fur Majority of fur on back is ruffled Piloerection, puffy appearance
Level of consciousness Active Active, avoids standing upright Active only when provoked Non-responsive, even when provoked
Activity Normal Suppressed eating, drinking, or running Stationary Stationary, even when provoked
Response to stimulus Normal Slowed response to auditory or touch stimuli No response to auditory, slowed response to touch No response to touch stimuli
Eyes Open Not fully open, potentially secretions Half closed, potential secretions Mostly or completely closed
Respiration quality Normal Periods of labored breathing Consistently labored breathing Labored breathing with gasps
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