Inflammatory cytokines in CVLs after treatment of SFT gel and other microbicide candidates.

<p>Inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6 (<b>a</b>), TNF-α (<b>b</b>), IFN-γ (<b>c</b>), IL-10 (<b>d</b>) and IL-17A (<b>e</b>), were quantified in CVLs collected at 12 h post final dosage in the context of 3 consecutive days of intravaginal application of placebo (1.5% HEC), 0.03 mM SFT gel, 0.3 mM SFT gel, 3 mM SFT gel, 3% carrageenan gel, 1% TFV gel, 6% CS gel and 1% N-9 gel, respectively. The X-axis indicated the administration of different microbicide candidates; the Y-axis indicated the production of corresponding inflammatory cytokines. Data represent means ± SD from 5 mice per group. Student's <i>t</i>-test was performed to determine the significance of difference between the placebo gel control group and the treatment group for each microbicide candidate, *<i>p</i><0.05.