Fig. 4. Graphs illustrating the effect of diluted bee venom (dBV) treatment on levels of proinflammatory cytokines in pleural exudate. Intrapleural injection of carrageenan (CA) significantly increased the production of interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) (A) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) (B) in pleural exudate compared to that of sham animals (Sham). (A) 0.8 mg/kg dBV apipuncture of LU-5 (CA + BV-A 0.8) significantly inhibited the upregulation of IL-1β production compared to that of vehicle-treated CA mouse (CA + Veh) (p < 0.05). However, 0.08 mg/kg dBV apipuncture of LU-5 (CA + BV-A 0.08) or 0.8 mg/kg dBV apipuncture of non-acupoint (CA + BV-NA 0.8) did not affect the level of IL-1β. (B) Treatment of dBV on neither the LU-5 acupoint nor a non-acupoint did not change the level of TNF-α compared to that of vehicle-treated CA mouse (CA + Veh). ***p < 0.001 compared to that of sham animals.
