FIGURE 2.

TS exposure elicits a stronger inflammatory response at the BBB endothelium following traumatic injury. A, NF‐kB was independently up‐regulated by TS exposure and traumatic injury. Also note the combined effect of TS over traumatic injury which potentiated the inflammatory response. Results were assessed by WB, quantitative RT‐PCR and immunofluorescence imaging. A similar trend was observed in respect to the expression levels of inflammatory cytokines (B1) IL‐6, (B2) IL‐10 and (B3) TNF‐α. 24 h after traumatic injury. n = 6 biological replicates, *P < .05, **P < .01, ***P < .001, ****P < .0001 vs control. ⁺ P < .05, ⁺⁺ P < .01, ⁺⁺⁺ P < .001, ⁺⁺⁺⁺ P < .0001 vs smoked group. ^@ P < .05, ^@@ P < .01, ^@@@ P < .001, ^@@@@ P < .0001 vs TBI‐induced group. WB analyses express protein/β‐actin ratios