Fig. 4: Variation in cytokine release and MNG neural activities across time for the high and low responder subgroups.

a Individual variation in cytokine release for the high and low responder subgroups. Using the median of the peak cytokine concentration for all participants as a threshold, individuals were categorized into high and low-responder subgroups for each cytokine. Boxplot centerline: median; box limits: Q1 and Q3 quantile. Change in MNG activity at the RNG (b) and RCA (c) pre-to-post injection of LPS for high and low responder subgroups for each cytokine was recorded, and the shaded areas represented the 95% confidence interval. Two statistical comparisons were conducted. (1) For each session (between each blood draw), the cumulative change (RNG or RCA firing frequency) area under the curve (AUC) was compared between high and low responders across the 7 phase intervals (-60-to-0 min, 0-to-30 min, 30-to-60 min, 60-to-120 min, 120-to-180 min, 180-to-240 min, 240-to-300 min). Significant AUC between subgroup differences over 7 measured phase intervals was marked by horizontal black lines (*=p < 0.05, δ = p < 0.08, δδ = p < 0.1). (2) Changes in MNG activity over the 0–120 min and 120–240 min time intervals were designated as increasing and decreasing CAP slope. The slope of CAP firing frequency over these periods (0–120 and 120–240 min) compared between high and low responder groups; significant comparisons were demarcated by the horizontal red line (*=p < 0.05, δ = p < 0.08, δδ = p < 0.1).