The measurements are expressed in pg/ml units+/-SD and are derived from three independent experiments. Fig.3a shows that LPS stimulates the release of TNF-α from the RAW 264.7 macrophages (*, p<0.05 vs. no treatment) and ghrelin pretreatment 4 h prior to LPS treatment (1μg/ml) for 24 h significantly inhibits release of TNF-α (**, p<0.05 vs. LPS alone). Fig.3b shows that ghrelin mediated inhibition of LPS-induced TNF-α release is time-dependent being most pronounced at 6 hours after LPS treatment (*p<0.05 vs. LPS treatment). Fig 3c demonstrates that GHS-R antagonist D[lys-3]-GHRP-6 significantly but not completely abolishes ghrelin-mediated inhibition of TNF-α release as measured after 24 h (*, p <0.05 vs. no treatment; **, p<0.05 vs. LPS alone; Ψ, p < 0.05 vs. LPS+ghrelin).