Sepsis is one of the most common causes of death among critically ill patients in intensive care units worldwide; however, the microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) involved in the sepsis process (and their target genes) are largely unknown. The present study integrated miRNA and mRNA datasets to elucidate key sepsis‑related miRNA‑mRNA pairs. The datasets, GSE74952 and GSE55238 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus. By performing bioinformatics analysis such as GEO2R, miRNA target gene prediction, Gene Ontology analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis and miRNA‑mRNA network analysis, a total of four sepsis‑related miRNA‑mRNA pairs were successfully obtained. Mmu‑miR‑370‑3p, cluster of differentiation (CD)8a, CD247, Zap70 and inhibitor of nuclear factor κ B kinase subunit β (Ikbkb) were identified as the components involved in these pairs, and these genes were enriched in the T‑cell receptor signaling pathway. Finally, reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR results validated that the expression levels of the four genes (CD8a, CD247, Zap70 and Ikbkb) in the sepsis model mice were consistent with the microarray analysis. In conclusion, the present study identified four sepsis‑related miRNA‑mRNA pairs using bioinformatics analysis. These results indicated that the candidate miRNA‑mRNA pairs may be involved in the regulation of immunity in sepsis, which may in turn act as indicators or therapeutic targets for sepsis.