FIG. 1.

Levels of IL-18 in patients with M. pneumoniae pneumonia. Samples were obtained from patients with no (A) or massive (B) pleural effusions. A solid line within the same kind of samples and a dotted line between serum and PF samples indicate that the samples were from the same individual. A broken line at 260 pg/ml denotes the normal upper limit of IL-18 in serum. ▴, a patient with fulminant hepatitis; ▵, a patient with coinfection by Ad type 7; ●, a patient with a positive PCR result for M. pneumoniae DNA with a sustained fibrotic change on chest roentgenography; ■, a patient with a positive PCR result for M. pneumoniae DNA without fibrotic change; Rt, PF sample taken from the right lung; Lt, PF sample taken from the left lung.