Effects of Muscarinic Acetylcholine 3 Receptor^208-227 Peptide Immunization on Autoimmune Response in Nonobese Diabetic Mice

Figure 2

Downregulated expression of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-17, IL-6, and TGF-𝛽₁ in the serum following immunization with the M3R^208–227 peptide. Sera were collected from mice in each group before immunization (light gray bar), and four weeks following the second immunization with M3R^208–227 (black bar), CP (charcoal gray bar), or PBS (white bar), and the samples were diluted 1 : 50. The cytokine levels were measured using ELISA kits. (a) The results showed that the concentration of IFN-γ was significantly decreased in the sera from mice immunized with M3R^208–227 in comparison to those in the sera of the control animals. On the other hand, the concentration of IL-17 was below the detection level (^∗𝑃<0.05; ^∗∗𝑃<0.005). (b) These results showed that the concentration of IL-4 was significantly decreased in the sera of M3R^208–227 peptide immunized mice as compared to the control groups (^∗∗𝑃<0.005). No significant decrease in IL-10 secretion was observed (𝑃>0.05). (c) The results demonstrated that the concentrations of TGF-𝛽₁ and IL-6 were significantly decreased in the sera from mice immunized with M3R^208–227 as compared to the controls (^∗𝑃<0.05; ^∗∗𝑃<0.005).

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(b)

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