Fig 2.

Exposure to live L3 does not alter the mRNA expression of inflammatory genes or the production of proinflammatory cytokines in human LC. (A and B) In vitro-derived LC were cultured in medium alone, with L3, or with LPS (1 μg/ml) for 48 h. The cells were harvested, and mRNA levels were measured by real-time PCR and normalized to the levels of 18S rRNA. The fold change in gene expression in either L3-exposed (solid squares) or LPS-activated (open squares) LC over unexposed LC is shown. *, P < 0.05. A fold change of 1 (dotted horizontal line) indicates no change in expression between stimulated and unexposed cells. (C) Supernatants from LC exposed to L3, LPS, or the tachyzoite stage of T. gondii were collected after 48 h and evaluated for levels of IFN-γ, IL-8, IL-6, IL-10, IP-10, CXCL9, and TNF-α by Luminex and of IL-18BP by ELISA. The data are expressed as the geometric mean of the fold change over unexposed LC (n = 6 to 15). *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01.