Figure 2

Effect of different stimuli on the production of NO, TNF, and IL-6 by AMs derived from either naïve or TMA-sensitized BN rats. Rats received 150 μl vehicle or 50% TMA in vehicle on each shaved flank on day 0 and 75 μl vehicle or 25% TMA on the dorsum of both ears on day 7. On day 21 the animals were sacrificed and the lungs were lavaged. AMs obtained from the lung lavage fluid were incubated with medium (white bar), LPS/IFN-γ (black bar), TMA (striped bars) TMA-BSA (dark grey bars; 1 mg/ml corresponds with 13.5 μM TMA-BSA) and BSA (light grey bars; 1 mg/ml corresponds with 15.1 μM BSA) for 24 h. The culture supernatants were analyzed for nitrite (a), TNF (b) and IL-6 (c). Results are expressed as mean ± SEM. Significant differences are denoted by *: p < 0.05 compared to medium incubation.