Figure 2.

TNF-α regulates the expression of inflammatory cytokines in PBMCs. (A) Morphology of PBMCs isolated from patients was observed under an inverted microscope (left image: Magnification, ×100; right image: Magnification, ×200). PBMCs were exposed to TNF-α (1, 5 and 10 ng/ml) and 2 µM pomalidomide (anti-TNF-α); the mRNA levels of (B) IL-6, (C) IL-10 and (D) TNF-α were determined via reverse transcription-quantitative PCR analysis. *P<0.05, **P<0.01 vs. control. IL, interleukin; PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cell; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-α.