FIG. 4.

S. mutans stimulates high levels of production of IL-12 by PBMC. PBMC were stimulated by the indicated ratios of bacteria to PBMC. Supernatants were collected after 24 h and analyzed by ELISA for IL-12. The results are representative of three experiments. Each data point is the mean of three triplicate samples. By one-way analysis of variance with Duncan’s post hoc test, S. mutans (S.m.) stimulation significantly increased IL-12 production compared to unstimulated controls (C) (<10 pg/ml) at ratios of 1, 10, and 100 (P < 0.05). P.e., P. endodontalis.