Figure 7

Effects of RL on IL-17 and Th17 cells in CIA rats.

(A) Levels of IL-17A from joint tissue lysates determined by Milliplex MAP Rat Cytokine/Chemokine Panel at the end of the experiment. (B) Serum levels of IL-17 determined by Milliplex MAP Rat Cytokine/Chemokine Panel at different time points. (C) Isolated splenocytes were stimulated with PMA (0.05 μg/ml) and ionomycin (1 μg/ml) for 4 h and then BFA (5 μg/ml) for additional 2 h. Cells were extracellularly stained with FITC-conjugated anti-CD4, fixed, permeabilized and labelled with PE-conjugated anti-IL-17A. Representative graphs showing the percentages of positive-stained Th17 in CD4⁺ cells analyzed by flow cytometry. (D) The mean percentages of positive-stained Th17 in CD4⁺ cells. (E) Concentration of IL-17A determined by ELISA in the supernatants of isolated splenocytes stimulated with PMA (0.05 μg/ml) and ionomycin (1 μg/ml). Values are the mean ± SEM (n = 8). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with the immunized control (saline).