Figure 2.
Other cytokines show strain-dependent patterns similar to IFN-γ after 24 h co-culture of human PBMCs with P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes. For 24 h, 5 × 105 human PBMCs were stimulated with 2·5 × 107 erythrocytes infected with one of four laboratory strains of P. falciparum (TM284, R29, HB3, Palo Alto) across a range of parasitaemias. IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-6, GM-CSF, IL-1β and IL-10 levels in the culture supernatants from eight donors were measured by multiplex bead assay. Data from one donor (donor 9) are shown, and the remaining donors are shown in Figure S2. Across all donors, the cytokine response after PBMC stimulation with P. falciparum is significantly dependent on parasite strain (P < 0·001 for each cytokine, see Table S1).