Figure 4.

miR-146b-5p inhibition promotes inflammation. After transfection of miR-146-5p inhibitor or its negative control into macrophages, the cells were treated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (50 µg/ml) for 24 h, and the secreted protein concentration of IL-6, IL-2, TNF-α and TGF-β was determined by ELISA. Values are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation of 3 independent experiments as determined by Student's t-test. **P<0.001 vs. Con. IL, interleukin; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; TGF, transforming growth factor; miR, microRNA; Con, control.