Figure 6.

β-estradiol pre-treatment decreased Con A-induced secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the culture supernatant of peripheral blood lymphocytes stimulated with Con A. Contents of (A) IL-6 and (B) TNF-α in the culture supernatant of unstimulated, Con A stimulated and β-estradiol treated peripheral blood lymphocytes. Data are presented as the mean ± standard error (n=5). *P<0.05, control group vs. the Con A-stimulated group; ^#P<0.05, Con A-stimulated group vs. the β-estradiol treated group. Each figure is representative of three independent experiments. Con A, concanavalin A; Con A + E, concanavalin A + β-estradiol; IL, interleukin; TNF, tumor necrosis factor.