FIG. 10.

Bacterium-stimulated production of TNF-α by PBMC at 1, 4, and 7 days. PBMC were stimulated by 10 bacteria per PBMC. Supernatants were collected at the indicated times and analyzed by ELISA for TNF-α. The results are representative of two experiments. Each data point is the mean of triplicate samples. By one-way analysis of variance with Duncan’s post hoc test, S. mutans (S.m.) stimulation significantly increased TNF-α production compared to P. endodontalis (P.e.) at all time points (P < 0.05).