Figure 4. Oral TiO₂ impairs CD3/CD28-induced T cell cytokine responses by isolated cells from Peyer’s patches and the spleen.

Rats were treated per os with 10 mg/kg of BW/day of NM-105 (grey bars), E171 (black bars) or vehicle (white bars) over 7 consecutive days. Immune cells were harvested from PP (a) and the spleen (b) and restimulated in vitro with anti-CD3/CD28 antibodies for 4 days to induce cytokine secretion by T cells. Cytokine concentrations were evaluated in the cell supernatant via ELISA. The data are written as the mean ± s.e.m. (n = 10 rats/group). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 vs. controls. Statistical analyses were performed with one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparison tests.