FIGURE 9.
Kupffer cell cytokine production capacity of TNF-α (A), IL-6 (B), and IL-10 (C). Mice were subjected to sham operation or trauma-hemorrhage and were treated with vehicle, estrogen (E2), estrogen plus Wortmannin (E2-W), or estrogen plus ICI 182,780 (E2-I) before resuscitation. E. coli bioparticle conjugates for the phagocytosis assay were also injected into each group right before resuscitation. The Kupffer cells were harvested as described in Materials and Methods. The cells were cultured in a 96-well plate at a cell density of 5 × 106 cells/ml for 24 h with 1 µg/ml LPS. The cell-free supernatants were harvested and stored at −80°C until assayed. Data are shown as mean ± SE for n = 6 animals/group. *, p < 0.05 compared with sham and estrogen-treated group.