Fig. 2

Production of the cytokines IL-6, G-CSF, M-CSF, VEGF and TGF-β by MUTZ-3 DC (dark), control fibroblasts (white) or IPF (dashed) fibroblasts, cultured either alone or in direct contact or using Transwell (TW) support. Mean levels (± SEM, n = 6) of (a) IL-6, (b) G-CSF, (c) M-CSF, (d) VEGF, and (e) TGF-β, assessed by ELISA after 48 h of both culture types. Cytokine levels were analysed using the normality test. The Mann-Whitney U and Student t test were used to compare the mean values of cytokines between patients and control subjects. TW: transwell. *p < 0.05