Fig. 4.

The anti-inflammatory effects of short-term hypoxia involve adenosine 2B receptor-dependent augmentation of IL-10 levels.

(a) Experimental setup. C57BL/6 mice were randomized to short-term hypoxia or normoxia and intraperitoneally (i.p.) injected with endotoxin (5 mg/kg) or saline. (b) Splenic tissue concentration of adenosine. n = 6 in saline groups, n = 8 in endotoxin groups. (c) Experimental setup. Adenosine 2B receptor (A2B) genetic deficient and genetically matched control mice (C57BL/6 background) were randomized to short-term hypoxia or normoxia and intraperitoneally injected with endotoxin (5 mg/kg) or saline. (d) Plasma concentration of IL-10, TNF, IL-1β, IL-6 and KC. n = 2 in saline groups, n = 6 in wild type endotoxin groups, n = 8 in A2B ^−/− normoxic endotoxin group, n = 7 in normoxic endotoxin A2B^−/− group. Data are expressed as mean (±s.e.m.). *P < .05, **P < .01, ***P < .001, # P = .05–0.1 (unpaired Student's t-test).