Table 1. Plasma cytokine levels of male and female healthy staff members.

Parameter	Males (n = 18)	Females (n = 28)	P
P_IL-1α (pg/ml)	1·7 ± 2·7	2·3 ± 3·0	0·044
P_IL-1β (pg/ml)	1·0 ± 2·8	0·5 ± 0·7	0·738
P_sIL-1RA (pg/ml)	205 ± 88	334 ± 480	0·964
P_IL-2 (pg/ml)	0·6 ± 2·7	1·8 ± 4·2	0·122
P_sIL-2R (pg(ml)	559 ± 191	566 ± 198	0·848
P_IL-3 (pg/ml)	16·8 ± 24·7	4·2 ± 7·1	0·133
P_IL-4 (pg/ml)	2·6 ± 7·5	0·2 ± 0·7	0·298
P_IL-6 (pg/ml)	1·8 ± 3·2	0·5 ± 0·9	0·136
P_sIL-6R (pg/ml)	34 536 ± 9871	29 298 ± 9802	0·068
P_IL-10 (pg/ml)	8·1 ± 17·5	3·9 ± 10·2	0·124
P_TNF-α (pg/ml)	1·4 ± 3·3	0·8 ± 1·5	0·719
P_TGF-β2 (pg/ml)	3·6 ± 15·3	0·8 ± 2·8	0·596
P_IFN-γ (pg/ml)	1194 ± 1737	489 ± 624	0·653

P_ = plasma level. All data are given as mean ± 1 s.d. P-values were calculated using the Mann–Whitney U-test. Adjustment for multiple testing (n = 13) was performed according to Bonferroni's method. Only P-values of < 0·01 were considered to be significant.