Cytokine and chemokine levels in plasma as a response to incubation with <i>Borrelia</i> spirochetes.

<p>Spirochetes were incubated in whole blood (n = 3) in duplicate for 4 h, and the cytokine/chemokine production was then measured using a Luminex-based assay. Results are normalized against the values for plasma without the addition of bacteria. (A) The x-fold increase in the panel of cytokines and chemokines analyzed in this report showed no difference between the complement-resistant <i>B. afzelii</i> K78 and -sensitive <i>B. garinii</i> LU59. (B and C) The importance of complement activation was further investigated using two complement inhibitors: compstatin, which selectively inhibits the proteolytic activation of C3, and eculizumab, an anti-C5 antibody blocking the cleavage of C5 and therefore further complement activation and C5a mediated signaling. Data are presented as means ± SEM.