Table 3.

The levels of cytokines in whole blood culture supernatants in MS patients

	Treated Patients		Untreated Patients
Cytokines(pg/ml)	Basic condition		Basic condition
	Men	Women	Men	Women
IL10	2.13 ± 0.4	1.8 ± 0.2	1.5 ± 0.1	1.8 ± 0.2
IFNγ	16.1 ± 5	11.4 ± 3.2	14 ± 2.3	19.8 ± 3.6
IL6	232 ± 227a	10 ± 9.8a	35.8 ± 11.5	12.0 ± 17.5
IL2	10.8 ± 1	8.7 ± 0.9	8.7 ± 3.5	9.4 ± 1.5
IL4	1.1 ± 0.2	1.1 ± 0.1	0.7 ± 0.1	0.7 ± 0.1
IL12p70	9.2 ± 0.9	9.5 ± 0.8	11.2 ± 1.2	8.4 ± 0.7
IL12p40	25.2 ± 2.6	21.6 ± 3	20.1 ± 6.5	20.7 ± 5.1
TGFβ	7324 ± 833	5903 ± 458	10721 ± 5822	5758 ± 386
	PHA		PHA
	Men	Women	Men	Women
IL10	59.7 ± 24.9	23.7 ± 11.8	78 ± 17.4	49.4 ± 30.2
IFNγ	1149.2 ± 570	740 ± 112.9b	2238 ± 904	2102 ± 658b
IL6	759 ± 359	627 ± 109.1	673 ± 427	648.1 ± 153.8
IL2	18.3 ± 5.9	13.9 ± 7.4	20.6 ± 8	21.3 ± 4.1
IL4	9.7 ± 5.3	3.6 ± 1.3	3.6 ± 1.1	1.2 ± 1.5
IL12p70	13.4 ± 2.5	9.9 ± 0.6	9.1 ± 1.5	9.3 ± 0.9
IL12p40	196 ± 105	101.7 ± 15.4	186 ± 82	86.2 ± 15.4
TGFβ	7644 ± 906	6953 ± 583	16029 ± 8457	8612 ± 4630.1
	LPS		LPS
	Men	Women	Men	Women
IL10	144 ± 28.2	215 ± 54.7	181 ± 50	195.5 ± 48.6
IFNγ	135 ± 37.9	71.2 ± 139.4	1131 ± 809.3	263 ± 88.5
IL6	989 ± 89	635.9 ± 112.5	795 ± 173	813.2 ± 123.7
IL2	15.6 ± 3.7c	11 ± 4.4	7.6 ± 1.5c	12 ± 1.6
IL4	1.54 ± 0.5	1.1 ± 0.1d	0.7 ± 0.1	0.7 ± 0.06d
IL12p70	11.5 ± 1.9	8.9 ± 0.8	9.7 ± 0.9	9.1 ± 0.7
IL12p40	416 ± 309	354.4 ± 69.5	1203 ± 664	284.2 ± 87.2
TGFβ	7582 ± 832	7524.6 ± 3492.7e	12669 ± 6570	16984 ± 4854.8e

Levels were determined by whole blood assays in resting conditions (Basic conditions) and after stimulation with PHA (to principally study the activated T cell network contribution) and LPS (to evaluate the influence of activated antigen presenting cells). The level values are expressed as mean ± SD and statistical differences between groups were assessed using the Mann–Whitney U-test or Student’s t-test as appropriate: aa p = 0.027; bb p = 0.023; cc p = 0.039; dd p = 0.002; ee p = 0.031.