Fig. 2

Time course of GDF15 during critical illness. Serum concentrations of GDF15 were quantified in 65 healthy controls and in 564 early PN and 564 late PN ICU patients, who were matched for upon ICU admission characteristics, on the admission day, on day 4 or the last day in ICU for patients with a shorter ICU stay (d4/LD), on day 7 for patients still in ICU on that day, and on the last ICU day (left panels). In addition, in a smaller subset of patients with an ICU stay of at least 4 days, serum GDF15 concentrations were also quantified on day 1, day 2, and day 3 in the ICU (right panels). Numbers below each graph indicate, for each time point, how many patients had sufficient serum available for GDF15 measurement and were included in the analyses. P values, adjusted for multiple comparisons, for each time point are shown at the top of the graphs. Geometric shapes represent medians, and whiskers represent interquartile ranges. a Comparison of all patients with 65 control subjects (gray area representing interquartile ranges) who had never been admitted to an ICU. b Comparison of patients randomized to early PN versus late PN. c Comparison of ICU survivors and non-survivors