Fig 6. The inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6 increase in during infection.

Plasma TNF-α and IL-6 were elevated early in the course of infection (inset). Data are the mean(SE) of five animals. In one of these animals, plasma samples were collected hourly for the first 6h of the experiment. These data show that the measured TNF-α peak concentration occurs very quickly and precedes that of IL-6.