Figure 1.
Cytokine and chemokine levels in acute and convalescent serum samples from patients with erythema migrans (EM). Protein levels of 21 mediators associated with innate, T-helper 1 cell (TH1), or T-helper 17 cell (TH17) immune responses were assessed in 91 culture-positive patients with EM using bead-based Luminex assays. A, Comparison of cytokine and chemokine levels in matched acute and convalescent serum samples from patients with EM or in healthy controls. Black bars represent acute serum samples obtained prior to antibiotic therapy, a period of active infection. Gray bars represent convalescent samples obtained at the conclusion of antibiotic therapy, approximately 3 weeks after study entry. White bars represent values in healthy controls. The bars represent the mean values and I-bars represent the standard error of the mean. P values for comparison of acute and convalescent samples are indicated above the bars; P values for comparison with healthy controls are indicated by an asterisk (*P ≤ .05, **P ≤ .01, ***P ≤ .001). B, Cytokine and chemokine values in EM patients stratified according to the presence of symptoms: patients with no associated symptoms (n = 21, white box plots), 1–5 symptoms (n = 29, light gray box plots), or 6–20 symptoms (n = 41, dark-gray box plots) at first visit. The box represents 25th–75th percentiles, the line inside the box represents the median value, and I-bars represent the 10th–90th percentiles. P values for comparison of patients with 1–5 symptoms vs 6–12 symptoms are indicated above the box plots; P values for comparison of patients with 1–5 symptoms or 6–20 symptoms to those with no symptoms are indicated by an asterisk (*P ≤ .05, **P ≤ .01, ***P ≤ .001). Abbreviations: EM, erythema migrans; IFN, interferon; IL, interleukin; TH1, T-helper cell 1; TH17, T-helper cell 17; TNF, tumor necrosis factor.