Table 2. Th17-related cytokines in serum.

Cytokines	Con	ALI 6 h	ALI 24 h
IL-6 (pg/ml)	63.6 ± 11.6	122.3 ± 16.9**	192.0 ± 18.9**##
IL-17A (pg/ml)	6.1 ± 1.5	13.3 ± 2.1**	19.3 ± 1.9**#
TGF-β (pg/ml)	295.6 ± 41.4	481.7 ± 49.1*	769.1 ± 83.2**##
IL-23 (pg/ml)	116.8 ± 4.5	131.0 ± 2.6**	149.6 ± 2.3**##

Con (normal control group, ambient air inhalation, n = 10), ALI 6 h (ALI group, smoke inhalation for 6 h, n = 10), ALI 24 h (ALI group, smoke inhalation for 24 h, n = 10); data are presented as mean ± S.E.M. *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01 versus normal control group; ^#P < 0.05 and ^##P < 0.01 versus ALI 6 h group.