Fig. 3.

Differences in total protein, cytokine and chemokine levels in the cervical brush washes of different participant groups (n = 71). (A) Participants were grouped according to birth outcome. (B) Participants were grouped according to the presence or absence of cervical leukocytes. (C) Participants were grouped according to the stage of gestation when the sample was taken. Total protein is shown as mean with standard error. Cytokines and chemokines are shown as dots with horizontal lines indicating means. The limits of detection for CCL3 and CCL4 were 12.5 pg/mL and 3 pg/mL respectively. Samples with undetectable amounts of these cytokines were given the value of the detection limit. * = P < 0.05; ** = P < 0.01; *** = P < 0.001 between groups using the Mann–Whitney U test.