FIGURE 1.

Analysis of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy subjects (HS) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. (a) IL‐8 production by PBMCs upon LPS stimulation overnight. IL‐8 production in supernatant was measured by elisa. (b) Corticosteroid sensitivity was evaluated as the concentration of dexamethasone (Dex) required to inhibit 30% of LPS‐induced IL‐8 production (Dex‐IC₃₀). PBMCs were plated in the presence and absence of various concentrations of Dex for 1 h before overnight stimulation with 1 ng˙ml⁻¹ LPS. IL‐8 production in supernatant was measured by elisa. (c) Nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2) and histone deacetylase‐2 (HDAC2) protein levels from the total lysates of PBMCs were detected by immunoblotting. (d) PI3K pathway activity in PBMCs was measured as phosphorylated Akt (p‐Akt) and p70S6K (p‐p70S6K) by immunoblotting. (e) Transcription factor activator protein‐1 (AP‐1) subunit c‐Jun level in PBMCs were evaluated by immunoblotting. (n = 12 for HS; n = 11 for COPD). Values are expressed as mean ± SEM. ^# P < 0.05 compared with HS by nonparametric Mann–Whitney U test