In vitro PBMC cytokine profiling in ELISpot well supernatants in response to 90 individual <i>H. pylori</i> genome-derived peptides.

<p>Supernatants from ELISpot assay cultures were assayed for multiple cytokine concentrations by cytometric beads array (CBA) and TGF-β1 concentration by ELISA. (A) Individual peptide responses for individual patients are shown in heatmap format for TNF-α (Th1) and IL-10 (Treg) cytokines. The heat map rows represent individual patients (5 <i>H. pylori</i> positive and 5 <i>H. pylori</i> negative) and the columns represent responses to individual peptides. Graphical analysis of the dataset was performed using PermutMatrix 1.9.3 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0094974#pone.0094974-Caraux1" target="_blank">[51]</a>. For comparison of different cytokines, expression levels were normalized. (B, C) Columns represent average values (± SEM) of 90 individual peptide-stimulated cytokine secretion minus background values in <i>H. pylori</i>-infected patients (Hp+, white column) and <i>H. pylori</i> uninfected patients (Hp-, black column). All data are shown as specific cytokine concentration in pg/ml of supernatant (mean ± SEM). * P<0.05; *** P<0.0001; NS: no significant difference; N = 5.