FIG. 6.

Caspase-1 activation in human monocytes stimulated with M. leprae. Human monocytes were stimulated with M. leprae or M. bovis BCG at an MOI of 5:1 (bacilli to monocyte). Cell supernatants were collected at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 24, and 48 h poststimulation and analyzed for the levels of caspase-1 p20 subunit. Inset shows caspase-1 p20 levels in M. leprae-stimulated monocytes over 4 days of culture. Results are the mean ± standard error of three and five experiments (representing independent donors) minus the values of the unstimulated cells.