Figure 4From: Bench-to-bedside review: Glucose and stress conditions in the intensive care unitGlucose and reactive oxygen species production during sepsis: hypothesis. In peripheral blood mononuclear cells harvested from healthy volunteers and septic patients, increasing extracellular glucose increased glucose uptake. Subsequent stimulation of these cells by various agonists, such as PMA (phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate), a protein kinase C (PKC) activator, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production via NADPH oxidase in both the healthy volunteers and septic patients. The link between ROS and intracellular glucose levels could be increased production of NADPH via the pentose phosphate pathway.Back to article page