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. 2009 Oct 1;94(11):1603–1607. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2009.007708

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

(A) and (B) Calculated IL-18/IL-18BP level four days after 40 mg/day DXM administration of 17 patients with newly diagnosed ITP. IL-18/IL-18BP ratio was downregulated after HD-DXM therapy. (Data are presented for individual patients). (C) Relative mRNA expressions of IL-18 and IL-18BP and other cytokines in active ITP patients, HD-DXM treated patients and healthy controls. mRNA expressions of IL-18, IL-18BP and other cytokines and transcription factors in freshly isolated human PBMCs were quantified by RT-PCR.*p<0.05, ITP (pre-treatment) compared with normal controls; #p<0.05, ITP (pretreatment) compared with ITP (post-treatment); &p<0.05, ITP (post-treatment) compared with normal controls. (D)–(G) IL-18 and IL-18BP release from DXM-stimulated PBMCs. PBMC derived from 11 healthy volunteers and 8 ITP patients were cultured with or without DXM. IL-18 and IL-18BP release into supernatant were assayed by ELISA. Administration of DXM results in reduction of IL-18 (pg/mL) secretion in a dose-dependent manner (D and E) and elevation of IL-18BP (pg/mL) levels to their highest levels at 100 nmol/L (F and G).