Figure 2.

Chronic nicotine exposure blunts splenic TNF‐α in female SLE mice: The release of a splenic inflammatory mediator was measured in order to confirm stimulation of the cholinergic anti‐inflammatory pathway at the level of the α7‐nAChR. Protein expression of TNF‐α assessed by Western blot in spleens of control and SLE mice administered saline or nicotine for 7 days. Data are normalized to total protein. n = 4–5 spleens/group; P* versus Control/Saline; P + versus SLE/Saline. TNF, tumor necrosis factor.