Three independent transfections, each done in triplicate, were performed. Data are expressed as mean ± S.E. MKN28 cells were transiently transfected with 2 μg of plasmids containing various IL-6 and IL-8 promoters and 10 ng of Renilla plasmid as an internal control. The cells then infected with H. pylori for 9 h. Untreated cells served as controls. Normalized luciferase activity induced by H. pylori infection is expressed as -fold increase in H. pylori-infected cells over uninfected controls. *, p < 0.05; **,p < 0.01, compared with WT strains. †, p < 0.05;††, p < 0.01, compared with p162hu.IL8Luc or p1168hu.IL6Luc.