Fig. 4.

In vitro functional assays of B-cells, T-cells and UTI burden. Median IgG concentrations were measured at day 7 in the supernatants of (a) totally stimulated PBL (cultured with IL-2, IL-10, IL-21, pokeweed mitogen and CpG rich DNA sequence) and (b) stimulated, with antigens from UTI bacteria (mix of inactivated E.coli, Staph. aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia, Enterococcus spec. And Proteus vulgaris). The bottom panels depict the median abundancies of antigen specific CD4 (c) and CD8 (d) T-cells as measured as cells with upregulated surface activation markers (CD69 and CD137) after four days of stimulation with UTI bacteria antigens. Participants were split into four groups: able bodied controls <60 years (yCtr, n = 41), SCI < 60 years (ySCI, n = 42), able bodied controls ≥60 years (oCtr, n = 42) and SCI ≥ 60 years (oSCI, n = 41). Error bars mark the 95% confidence interval. Significant differences are indicated as **: p < 0.01