Table 3.
Cytokine levels (in pg/mL, median and range) after stimulation with PW, Con A and PHA in the supernatant from mothers’ peripheral mononuclear cell cultures at 1st trimester.
| Types of stimulation | Subjects | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IL-2 | TNF-α | IFN-γ | IL-4 | IL-10 | |
| Con A stimulation | |||||
| Pregnant women on HAART (n = 122) | 0.0 (0–0.55) | 18.5 (4–6619) | 0.2 (0–4.7) | 0.0 (0–0) | 0.0 (0–0) |
| Control (n = 72) | 2.4 (0–60.9) | 108.7 (11–2035) | 21.1 (0–2920) | 4.2 (0–10,756) | 86.3 (1–17,840) |
| P value | 0.09 | 0.28 | 0.11 | – | – |
| PW stimulation | |||||
| Pregnant women on HAART | 0.0 (0–282) | 39.8 (2–17,097) | 1.0 (0–422) | 0.0 (0–737) | 0.0 (0–0) |
| Control | 3.7 (0–616) | 155.6 (6–3203) | 59.3 (3–10,150) | 0.0 (0–742) | 72.1 (0–1445) |
| P value | 0.15 | 0.59 | 0.01* | 0.33 | – |
| PHA stimulation | |||||
| Pregnant women on HAART | 0.0 (0–15.8) | 867.7 (0–10,842) | 0.0 (0–162) | 0.0 (0–0) | 0.0 (0–1.9) |
| Control | 0.0 (0–13.4) | 906.3 (8.4–4225) | 499.4 (4–6017) | 0.0 (0–9876) | 33.7 (0–13,945) |
| P value | 0.83 | 0.79 | 0.03* | – | 0.04* |
IL, interleukin; IFN-γ, interon gamma; TNF-α, tissue necrosis factor alpha; Con A, concanavalin A; PW, pokeweed; PHA, phytohymaglutinin A; HAART, highly active antiretroviral therapy; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus.
*Significant value set at (P < 0.05).