Figure 5.

Blocking of stimulatory effect of TLR2 ligation on IL-17 production by anti-IL-23 antibody. The productions of IL-23 (a), IL-17 (b), IL-6 (c), TNF-α (d), and IL-1β (e) induced by TLR2 ligand in the presence or absence of neutralizing antibody (NE) of IL-23. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with Sjögren's syndrome (n = 5) were cultured with TLR2 ligand (PGN) in the presence or absence of neutralizing antibody (NE) of IL-23 for 48 hours. The concentrations of IL-23, IL-17, IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β in the culture supernatants were measured by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with nil. ^#P < 0.05 compared with PGN-treated cells. Ab, antibody; IL, interleukin; NE, neutralizing antibody; PGN, peptidoglycan; TLR, Toll-like receptor; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-alpha.