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. 2010 Mar 9;5(3):e9602. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009602

Figure 3. Heroin use or heroin use plus HCV infection down-regulate IFN-γ expression in IL-12-stimulated CD56+ T cells.

Figure 3

CD56+ T cells isolated from the healthy subjects (n = 17) and the heroin users with (n = 17) or without (n = 20) HCV infection were stimulated by IL-12 in vitro for 48 h. (A) Total cellular RNA extracted from IL-12-stimulated CD56+ T cells was subjected to the real-time RT PCR for the mRNA levels of IFN-γ and GAPDH. The data are expressed as the relative ratio of the IFN-γ to GAPDH mRNA levels. Mean values are indicated by horizontal bars and statistical significance was calculated by the Mann-Whitney U-test. (B) IFN-γ protein levels in IL-12-stimulated CD56+ T cell cultures were determined by ELISA. Median values are indicated by horizontal bars and statistical significance was calculated by the Mann-Whitney U-test.