Fig. 5.

In vitro effect of the four p38 inhibitor compounds on tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α (a), interleukin (IL)-1β (b) and IL-6 (c) production by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMCs). TNF-α concentration (pg/ml) was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in the supernatants of LPMCs isolated from inflamed areas of seven Crohn's disease patients and 12 ulcerative colitis patients, and cultured at the concentration of 1 × 10⁶/ml for 48 h in the presence or absence of increasing concentrations (0·1, 1 and 10 µM) of p38α inhibitor compounds 1, 2, 3 or SB203580. IL-1β and IL-6 levels (pg/ml) were measured by ELISA in the supernatants of mucosal biopsies collected from inflamed areas of seven Crohn's disease patients and seven ulcerative colitis patients, and cultured in the presence or absence of p38α inhibitor compounds 1, 2, 3 or SB203580, all at a final concentration of 10 µM. Results are mean (standard deviation) (*P < 0·0005 versus medium only, **P < 0·001 and §P < 0·05 versus medium only).