Figure 4

GCSF decreased the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 but increased the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4.

(A) ELISA study revealed significantly higher pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 levels in the dorsal horn of the vehicle-treated CCI rats than in the sham controls (P < 0.01) from the 1^st to the 7^th day after nerve injury. In contrast, significantly lower IL-6 levels were observed in the dorsal horn of GCSF-treated CCI rats than in the vehicle-treated CCI rats from the 1^st to the 7^th day after nerve injury (P < 0.05). (B) ELISA study revealed significantly lower anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4 levels in the dorsal horn of the vehicle-treated CCI rats than in the sham controls on the 3^rd day after nerve injury (P < 0.01). In contrast, significantly higher IL-4 levels were observed in the dorsal horn of GCSF-treated CCI rats than in the vehicle-treated CCI rats from the 1^st to the 7^th day after nerve injury (P < 0.05). The data are shown as the mean ± SEM. ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01: GCSF-treated or vehicle-treated groups compared to sham-operated controls. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01: GCSF-treated CCI groups compared to vehicle-treated CCI groups. One-way ANOVA, post hoc LSD test (n = 5, in each group).