Fig. 6.

Changes in IL-12 secretion and in antigen-presenting capacity of peripheral blood in anti-VEGF-treated patients. Peripheral blood was drawn from patients, who were enrolled in anti-VEGF clinical trials, before and 2 weeks after anti-VEGF antibody administration. a PBMCs were stimulated in the medium supplemented with CD40-ligand/GM-CSF/IFN-γ. After 48-h incubation, supernatants were collected and IL-12 production was analyzed by ELISA. Mean values of pre- and post-treatment samples are shown at the top of figure. b PBMCs isolated from patients’ blood, used as stimulator cells, were irradiated (50 Gy), plated in 96-well plate with allogeneic PBMCs (100,000 cells/well) from normal donors to make 1:1, 2:1 and 4:1 ratio. Cells were incubated for 4 days, 1 μCi of [³H]-thymidine was added to each well, and uptake was measured 18 h later. One representative case is shown. c PBMCs (200,000 cells/well) were incubated for 4 days with Candida albicans protein, tetanus toxoid, PHA or pokeweed antigen in the medium, 1 μCi of [³H]-thymidine was added to each well, and uptake was measured 18 h later. Stimulation Index was calculated by dividing the values with the value of control (without antigen). Ratio of stimulation index (post/pre) of individual patients was plotted in the figure