Fig. 1

Effect of interaction between synoviocytes and PBMC on IL-6 and IL-1β production. Healthy PBMC were cultured alone or in co-culture with RA synoviocytes at a 5:1 ratio for 48 h, in the presence or absence of PHA (5 μg/ml). The transwell system was used in co-cultures to inhibit cell–cell contact. Production of IL-6 (a) and IL-1β (b) in cell supernatants was measured by ELISA. Each linked dot plot represents one experiment in the different conditions. ^*Compares the culture conditions (PBMC alone, co-culture or transwell) with and without PHA. ^#Compares the activation state (control or PHA) in the culture conditions. ^*# p ≤ 0.05. IL interleukin, PBMC peripheral blood mononuclear cells, PHA phytohemagglutinin, RA rheumatoid arthritis