FIG. 4.

T. cruzi infection and TCM inhibit LPS-induced cytokine release from DC. A total of 5 × 10⁵ DC were incubated with LPS (10 ng/ml) with or without trypomastigotes or TCM for 24 h, and cytokine levels were measured in culture supernatants. (A) Levels of cytokines produced in the absence (NI) or presence of trypomastigotes at different parasite-to-cell ratios. (B) Levels of cytokines produced in the absence (NI) or presence of TCM at different graded concentrations. Data represent the mean and standard error of the mean of five independent experiments performed with five different blood donors. ∗, P ≤ 0.03 by nonparametric Wilcoxon’s paired one-tailed test, compared to cytokine levels in the absence of T. cruzi trypomastigotes or TCM.