Relationship between pleural fluid levels of TNF-α and MMP-1/-9 in TBP.

<p>Correlation between TNF-α and (A), MMP-1 and (B), MMP-9 in TBP (n = 18). Effects of Heat-killed M. tuberculosis H37Ra or TNF-α on the expression of MMP-1 and MMP-9 in human pleural mesothelial cells. (C) and (D), MeT-5A cells were pretreated with vehicle (control), control IgG (12 μg/ml) or anti-TNF-α Ab (12 μg/ml) for 30 min, then stimulated with MTBRa for 24 hours. (E) and (F), MeT-5A cells were stimulated with TNF-α (5–20 ng/ml) for 24 h. The level of MMP-1 and MMP-9 was assessed by Western blot. Data are shown as mean ± SD of three to four independent experiments. ^###p<0.001 compared with the resting group; ***p<0.001 compared with the MTBRa-treated group (control). TNF, tumor necrosis factor; MMP, matrix metalloproteinase; TBP, tuberculous pleuritis; MTBRa, heat-killed <i>M</i>. <i>tuberculosis</i> H37Ra.