Fig. 11.

Dose response effect of bacteria and protease treatment on media concentrations of IL-8 in THP-1 macrophage cells. Doses for bacteria were low, 10:1; medium, 50:1; high, 100:1 bacteria to cells. Doses for elastase were low, 0.0033 U/ml; medium, 0.033 U/ml; high, 0.33 U/ml. L. iners and F. nucleatum significantly increased IL-8 at all doses as opposed to L. crispatus, which significantly increased IL-8 only at the highest dose. Elastase stimulated significant increases in IL-8 at the medium and highest doses. (n = 6 for bacteria, n = 4 for elastase, mean ± SE, *P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001 ****P < 0.0001)