FIG. 3.

PBMC IL-4 and IFN-γ transcript levels in patients with Sscl and healthy controls. Total IL-4 transcripts were semiquantitated by densitometry, as described in Materials and Methods. Full-length-IL-4 and IFN-γ transcripts were quantitated by MIMIC PCR. Horizontal lines indicate median values. Results were normalized for β-actin as a measure of PBMC equivalents. Total IL-4 transcript levels were higher in patients with Sscl than in healthy controls (Student’s t test; two-tailed P = 0.003). P values for full-length IL-4 and IFN-γ were 0.07 and 0.0004, respectively.