Cytokine production
In this whole blood system, stimulation with 100 ng/mL of LPS increased the TNF-α concentration of ­­­­­­­29.86 (± 11.88) pg/mL compared with 11.95 (± 9.05) pg/mL under control conditions (p = 0.032) (Fig. 1). LPS increased IL-10 production compared with control conditions (p = 0.001), but IFN-γ alone had no significant effect on either TNF-α or IL-10 levels.
However, the addition of IFN-γ treatment to LPS stimulation led to further increases in TNF-α concentrations, reaching 138.41 (± 49.46) pg/mL (p = 0.0386) (Fig. 1). Conversely, when IFN-γ was added to LPS treated blood, IL-10 was significantly decreased (p = 0.001). This was similar to the levels observed in the control conditions.