Figure 3.

The stimulation of TLR2, TLR4, and TLR6 upregulates the production of IL-17 and IL-23 in PBMCs from patients with SS. (a) IL-23 mRNA expression induced by TLR-specific ligands. PBMCs from patients with SS (n = 5) and healthy controls matched for age and sex (n = 5) were cultured with ligands for TLR2, TLR4, and TLR6 for 12 hours. The expression of IL-23 mRNA was evaluated by real-time PCR. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with nil. (b) IL-23 production induced by TLR-specific ligands. PBMCs from patients with SS and healthy controls were cultured with ligands for TLR2, TLR4, and TLR6 for 48 hours. The concentration of IL-23 in the culture supernatants was measured. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with nil. (c) IL-17 mRNA expression induced by TLR-specific ligands. PBMCs from patients with SS and healthy controls were cultured with ligands for TLR2, TLR4, and TLR6 in the presence or absence of anti-CD3 for 12 hours. The expression of IL-17 mRNA was evaluated by real-time PCR. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with nil. ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01 compared with anti-CD3-treated cells. (d) IL-17 production induced by TLR-specific ligands. PBMCs from patients with SS and healthy controls were cultured with ligands for TLR2, TLR4, and TLR6 in the presence or absence of anti-CD3 for 48 hours. The concentration of IL-17 in the culture supernatants was measured. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with nil. ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01 compared with anti-CD3-treated cells. IL, interleukin; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cell; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; PGN, peptidoglycan; SS, Sjögren's syndrome; TLR, Toll-like receptor.