Fig. 3.

Effect of 18B12 treatment on cytokine expression. (e, f) Homogenized spinal cord sections were evaluated by Western blot analysis. Injury caused a significant increase in interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-12A expression compared with the control group. Treatment with 18B12 significantly reduced cytokine levels. Spinal cord sections were also processed for immunohistologic staining for IL-1β. (a, d) No positive staining for IL-1β was found in the spinal cord tissue from sham-operated mice. (b, d)A substantial increase in IL-1β expression was found in spinal cord tissues from spinal cord injury (SCI) mice 24 h after SCI. (c, d) 18B12 treatment significantly attenuated IL-1β levels in the spinal cord. Data were normalized on the basis of β-actin levels. A representative blot of lysates obtained from 5 animals/group is shown and densitometry analysis of all animals is reported. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM of 10 mice from each group. **p < 0.01 and *p < 0.1 vs sham; ^# p < 0.1 and ^## p < 0.1 vs SCI ND = not detectable