Fig. 3.

Corticosteroids combined with dipyridamole (DP) selectively inhibit cytokine production. (A) Percent inhibition of TNF-α production in stimulated human peripheral blood cells (average of two measurements) using dexamethasone and dipyridamole at the indicated concentrations. (B) Excess inhibition over HSA for dipyridamole and dexamethasone. (C and D) Dipyridamole and dexamethasone inhibit production of TNF-α (C), but not IFN-γ (D). As a comparison, two steroids, fludrocortisone and prednisolone (E), were tested in combination for their effect on TNF-α production. In each case, the dilution factor is calculated based on the highest concentration tested [3 μM DP, 0.25 μM dexamethasone, 1 μM fludrocortisone (FLU), and 1 μM prednisolone (PRED)] for each agent, selected based on the empirically determined dose curves.