Figure 1. Chemokine secretion and the corresponding mRNA levels increased additively after treatment with PA or mmLDL in LPS-stimulated J774 macrophages. Macrophages were incubated with PA, followed by treatment with or without LPS. The culture media was collected and the levels of IL-6 and IL-1β were determined using ELISA (A). Macrophages were treated with LPS with or without mmLDL. The culture media were collected and the levels of IL-6 and IL-1β were determined (B). J774 cells were incubated with PA, followed by treatment with or without LPS. The cells were harvested and the relative expression levels of Il6 and Il1b were determined using qPCR and normalized to that of Gapdh (C). J774 cells were treated with LPS with or without mmLDL. mRNA expression was determined as mentioned above (D). Experiments were conducted with technical duplicates, and data presented are based on 3 independent replicates.

ELISA = enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; IL = interleukin; LPS = lipopolysaccharide; mmLDL = minimally modified low-density lipoprotein; mRNA = messenger RNA; PA = palmitate.

^*p<0.05, ^†p<0.01, ^‡p<0.001.