Figure 7.

(a) Edema-forming activity of Bbil-TX in mice. Induction of edema by toxins (0.1, 1, and 5 μg/mL), injected s.c. in the footpad of mice. At various time intervals the increase in footpad volume, as compared to controls, was expressed as percent edema. Each point represents the mean ± SD of four animals. Levels of TNF-α (b), IL-6 (c), and IL-1 (d), in the serum after injection of Bbil-TX. Animals were injected i.m. with Bbil-TX (1.0 mg/kg) or sterile saline alone (control) in a final volume of 100 μL. IL-1 and IL-6 were quantified by specific ELISA, and TNF-α was quantified by cytotoxic activity on L929 cells in serum collected at the indicated time intervals after Bbil-TX or saline injection as described in Materials and Methods. Each bar represents mean ± SEM of 7 animals. *P < 0.05 when compared with the corresponding control groups.