The Effects of Ex Vivo Administration of Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor and Endotoxin on Cytokine Release of Whole Blood Are Determined by Priming Conditions

Figure 2

(a) LPS-induced (500 pg/ml) TNF production in whole blood from 28 healthy volunteers under three different GM-CSF (5 ng/ml) preincubation conditions. Controls = no stimulation. GM-CSF = stimulation with GM-CSF only. LPS = stimulation with LPS only. Preincubation mode A: initial GM-CSF preincubation followed by LPS stimulation. Preincubation mode B: simultaneous stimulation of LPS and GM-CSF. Preincubation mode C: initial LPS preincubation followed by GM-CSF stimulation. Data are presented as means ± SEM. Statistical difference with = significant for GM-CSF effect on LPS-induced TNF production versus stimulation with LPS only. (b) Box-and-whisker plot of the GM-CSF effects on LPS-induced TNF production under three different preincubation conditions. The dotted zero line represents the absence of differences between LPS-induced TNF production with and without GM-CSF administration. Preincubation mode A: initial GM-CSF preincubation followed by LPS stimulation. Preincubation mode B: simultaneous stimulation of LPS and GM-CSF. Preincubation mode C: initial LPS preincubation followed by GM-CSF stimulation. Data are presented as means ± SEM. = significant difference for GM-CSF effect on LPS-induced TNF production versus no GM-CSF administration. (c) Stimulated TNF production in whole blood (WB) compared to leukocyte subpopulations (L = lymphocytes, MN = monocytes + lymphocytes, and PMN = neutrophils + eosinophils). Data are presented as means ± SEM.

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