Figure 6.

Relative expression levels of Th1 (TNF-α), Th17 (IL-17 and IL-23) cytokines in rat splenocytes and lymphocytes. Relative expression of (A) TNF-α, (B) IL-17 and (C) IL-23 in the supernatant of splenocytes. Relative expression of (D) TNF-α, (E) IL-17 and (F) IL-23 in the supernatant of lymphocytes. The rats either received no treatment or were treated with CTRL, LPS, Dex, Dex + LPS or YOH + Dex + LPS. Concentrations of Dex and YOH used in this experiment were 10 µg/kg and 1 mg/kg, respectively. Splenocytes and lymphocytes were isolated from rat spleen or lymph nodes, respectively, followed by culturing cell culture plates for 48 h. Cell culture supernatant was used for ELISA analysis of Th1 or Th17 cytokines (*P<0.05). CTRL, control; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; Dex, dexmedetomidine; IL, interleukin; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; Th, T helper cells; YOH, yohimbine. *P<0.05.