Objective To investigate the plasma levels of soluble Fas receptor ( sFas) , soluble Fas ligand ( sFas-L) and matrix metalloproteinase-7 ( MMP-7) and their correlation with disease severity as well as the prognosis of septic patients.Methods The plasma levels of sFas, sFas-L, sFas / sFas-L ratio and MMP-7 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and compared between32 patients with sepsis and 24 age and sex matched healthy controls. Based on the 28-day outcome, the patients were divided into a survival group and a death group. The difference in sFas, sFas-L, sFas/ sFas-L ratio and MMP-7 between the survival group and the death group were compared.Results Compared with the healthy control group, the concentration of plasma sFas, sFas-L and MMP-7 were significantly increased in the septic patients ( P lt; 0. 01) . Elevated plasma sFas and sFas-L were both positive correlated with the APACHEⅡ score and SOFA score. Although a modest negative correlation was found between plasma MMP-7 and APACHEⅡ score and SOFA score, but this correlation did not reach statistical significance ( P gt;0. 05) . The septic patients who died had significantly higher sFas-L level and lower sFas / sFas-L ratio as compared with those who survived ( P lt;0. 05) . Conclusion Plasma sFas, sFas-L and MMP-7 are associated with the disease severity and can serve as potential markers for predicting the outcome in septic patients.