Figure 5.

Change in cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and R848 stimulation in pre- versus post-dietary intervention. PBMCs from control subjects and Mediterranean (MED)-diet intervention subjects were cultured for 3 h in complete tissue culture media alone, or in media containing LPS and R848 in the presence of 2 µM monensin. PBMC culture supernatants were analyzed by multiplex bead based immunoassay to determine absolute concentrations of MCP-1 (A), CXCL8 (B), resistin (C) and TNF-α (D) in the PBMC samples. Concentrations (pg/ml) in non-stimulated samples were subtracted from stimulated samples to give a change in concentration as a result of the stimulus. Squares represent individual values for change in secretion of each cytokine by PBMCs, error bars represent the SEM. Determination of significant differences between pre- and post-intervention by paired t-tests, significance assumed at *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. CXCL8, C-X-C chemokine ligand 8, MCP-1, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 ns; not statistically significant; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor alpha.