Cytokine levels in the sera and mRNA expression and cytokine production in the ilea of STAg-pretreated orally <i>T. gondii</i> infected C57BL/6 mice.

<p>The levels of IL-12p70 (A), IFN-γ (B), IL-10 (C), IL-4 (D) and TGF-β (E) in serum samples, and IL-12p70 (J), IFN-γ (K), TNF (L), IL-10 (M), IL-4 (N) and TGF-β (O) in the ilea were measured on day 8 p.i. by ELISA. The values of cytokine production were the mean and SD of 5 mice per data point. The experiments were repeated twice and provided similar results. The cytokine IL-12p40 (F), IFN-γ (G), TNF (H) and IL-10 (I) transcript expressions in the ilea of STAg-pretreated and infected mice was quantified by qPCR on day 8 p.i. Results are demonstrated as mRNA expression of PBS- or STAg-pretreated and <i>T. gondii</i>-infected mice, relative to non-infected mice. The relative levels of gene expression were calculated by reference to the β-actin in each sample, using the threshold cycle (C_t) method; and the data (mean ± SD) represent values from one experiment representative of three independent experiments. * <i>p</i> < 0.05, **<i>p</i> < 0.01, ***<i>p</i> < 0.001 (ANOVA and Bonferroni multiple comparisons post-test). ^&<i>p</i> < 0.05 (Significantly different from values obtained from PBS-pretreated mice, Unpaired Student’s <i>t</i>-test). NI, non-infected.