Fig. 4
From: Mechanisms of corticosteroid insensitivity in COPD alveolar macrophages exposed to NTHi
Combination effect of dexamethasone and p38 MAPK inhibitor (BIRB-796) on NTHi-induced cytokine release from COPD alveolar macrophages. Alveolar macrophages from 6 COPD patients were pre-treated with either dexamethasone (0.01 and 1 μM) or BIRB-796 (1 μM) alone or in combination, for 1 h before NTHi (10:1 MOI) stimulation for 24 h. DMSO 0.05% was used as vehicle control. TNF-α (a), IL-6 (b), CXCL8 (c) and IL-10 (d) levels were measured by ELISA. Data presented as Mean ± SEM. All data analysed by Repeated measures ANOVA with Dunnett multiple comparison post-test. *, ** represent significant inhibition below DMSO control (p < 0.05, 0.01 respectively). #, ##, ### represent significantly higher inhibition than corresponding dexamethasone concentration (p < 0.05, 0.01, 0.001 respectively). $, $$ represent significantly higher inhibition than BIRB-796 alone (p < 0.05, 0.01 respectively)