Figure 2.

Cytokine production in human macrophages that were stimulated using heat-killed lactobacillus. The supernatants of stimulated macrophages were analyzed using ELISA to determine the level of expression of the cytokines IL-8, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-12, IL-1β, and IL-10. The macrophages were treated with zymosan (10 μg/ml) or heat-killed strains of lactobacillus at a MOI of 1 : 500 or untreated (s/e). Cytokine concentrations were determined at 6 h (□) and 24 h (■) after stimulation. The results are shown as the means ± of the standard deviations and are representative of four independent experiments. Significance was set at p < 0.05 (∗) in the comparison between 6 and 24 h of stimulation. p > 0.05 (∗∗).