TABLE 2.

TNF production in Q fever endocarditis^a

Group	No. of TNF copies/ ng of RNAb		TNF secretion (pg/ml)b
	Without C. burnetii	With C. burnetii	Without C. burnetii	With C. burnetii
Controls	7.4 ± 0.8	146 ± 25	185 ± 16	1,999 ± 430
Active patients	13.6 ± 1.4*	440 ± 95***	396 ± 59***	4,826 ± 897**
Cured patients	11.2 ± 3.2	229 ± 79	195 ± 49	2,202 ± 506

^aMonocytes were stimulated or not stimulated with C. burnetii at a bacterium-to-cell ratio of 200:1 for 3 h. RNA was extracted and incubated with a reverse transcriptase mixture. After incubation with specific primers, the cDNAs were amplified and the expression of TNF transcripts was quantitated. Supernatants of monocyte cultures were collected after 24 h and assayed for the presence of TNF by immunoassay. 

^bResults are expressed as means ± SEs. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.04; ***, P < 0.01 (for the comparison of active patient values with control values). Each group contained 10 individuals.