Figure 2.
Increase in the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients by PHA stimulation. PBMC (2 × 105/well) from RA patients (n = 25) and healthy controls (n = 20) were stimulated with PHA (5 μg/ml) in 200 μl culture media in 96-well plates. Supernatants were collected after 24 hrs and tested for IL-17 (A), IL-6 (B), IL-1β (C), TNF-α (D), IFN-γ (E), or IL-10 (F). The data are expressed as box plots. Each box represents the IQR. Lines inside the boxed represent the median. Whiskers represent the highest and lowest values. *P < 0.05, versus control (Mann–Whitney U-test).