Consumption of Galactooligosaccharides together with Probiotics Stimulates the In Vitro Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell Proliferation and IFNγ Production in Healthy Men

Table 2

Serum cytokines during a pretreatment period, 2 weeks of treatment with probiotic juice, and 2 weeks of treatment with probiotic juice with GOS.

Variables	n (%) above detection limit			𝑃-value^b	Geometric mean (95% CI)^a			𝑃-value^c
	Pretreatment	Probiotic	Probiotic+GOS		Pretreatment	Probiotic	Probiotic+GOS
IL-4	12 (66.7)	11 (61.1)	15 (83.3)	0.236	2.35 (1.36–4.07)	2.03 (1.22–3.39)	2.56 (1.65–3.99)	0.447
IL-5	12 (66.7)	12 (66.7)	13 (72.2)	0.819	1.21 (0.86–1.71)	1.14 (0.83–1.57)	1.30 (0.95–1.77)	0.415
IFNγ	9 (50.0)	11 (61.1)	12 (66.7)	0.174	5.96 (2.23–15.94)	5.47 (2.30–13.00)	6.56 (2.84–15.15)	0.441
IL-2	6 (33.3)	6 (33.3)	8 (47.1)	0.449
IL-10	6 (33.3)	5 (27.8)	9 (50.0)	0.236
TNFα	7 (38.9)	9 (50.0)	8 (44.4)	0.549

pg/mL. 𝑛=18. ^aGeometric means are given if at least half of observations are above the detection limit. Values below the detection limit were replaced by “detection limit/2”. ^bCochran’s Q test. ^cANOVA for repeated measures using logarithmically (ln) transformed values.