In 1991, sepsis was first defined as systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) caused by infection. International consensus on sepsis was updated to Sepsis 3.0 in 2016, which is the life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by the host immune response disorder due to infection. During the immunosuppressive stage of sepsis, the combination of programmed cell death receptor-1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death receptor ligand-1 (PD-L1) can inhibit the activation and proliferation of some immune cells, resulting in negative regulation of the immune system. This review mainly focuses on the role of PD-1/PD-L1 in the immune function of T cells, dendritic cells (DCs), monocytes, macrophages and other immune cells during sepsis, as well as application prospect of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibody therapy in sepsis.