Fig. 2

Difference in phosphorylated STAT3 (pSTAT3)+/CD4+ T cells (%) and other factors associated with interleukin-6 (IL-6) signaling in each group of patients administered tocilizumab (TCZ) at different intervals and in the control group. Comparison of pSTAT3+/CD4+ T cells (%) under IL-6 stimulation (0, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 ng/ml) (a), mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of the membrane form of IL-6 receptor (mIL-6R) in CD4+ T cells (b), MFI of gp130 in CD4+ T cells (c), serum IL-6 concentration (d), serum soluble form of IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R) concentration (e) and serum TCZ concentration (f) in each treatment group. g Correlation between serum TCZ concentration and pSTAT3+/CD4+ T cells (%; IL-6 stimulation = 100 ng/ml) in the TCZ-treated group (n = 30). Wilcoxon test was used for comparing the groups. Correlation was analyzed by Spearman’s correlation coefficient. w = week