Fig 1. (A) LITAF, (B) IL-12 production by spleen mononuclear cells after incubation with different LAB strains.

Spleen cells (1×10⁶ cells/ml) were cultured in a RPMI-1640 medium without penicillin or streptomycin. The RPMI-1640 medium alone was used as a negative control, while LPS (lipopolysaccharide, 10 μg/ml) was used as a positive control. LAB (10⁸ to 10⁹ cfu/ml) were cultured with spleen cells. After 24 h and 48 h of culture, LITAF and IL-12 produced in the culture supernatants were analyzed. Each value represents the mean value ± SD from three independent experiments. * indicates significant differences in comparison with the positive control (*: P<0.05).