Pulmonary exposure to single-walled carbon nanotubes does not affect the early immune response against Toxoplasma gondii

Table 1 Levels of cytokines, chemokines and growth factors in BAL fluid in mice exposed to SWCNT and inoculation with the parasite T. gondii

Group of animals (n = 6-8)	Cytokine release in BAL fluid (pg/mL)
	IL-1β	IL-6	IL-10	IL-12p40	INFγ	TNFα	MCP-1	TGFβ2
PBS	55 ± 29	18 ± 9	34 ± 12	458 ± 67	45 ± 9	48 ± 30	61 ± 37	84 ± 10
SWCNT	8 ± 0	18 ± 7	10 ± 4	1173 ± 146	25 ± 9	9 ± 2	51 ± 22	165 ± 23
T. gondii 10³	432 ± 227*	408 ± 136	552 ± 236^#*	3468 ± 688^#*	5769 ± 1799^#*	1016 ± 466	2569 ± 978	124 ± 17
SWCNT/ T. gondii 10³	165 ± 56	497 ± 84	502 ± 108	3752 ± 292^#*	9090 ± 1807^#*	720 ± 199	3558 ± 745	187 ± 22
T. gondii 10⁴	229 ± 40	1058 ± 208^#*	612 ± 130^#*	2587 ± 409^#	8977 ± 966^#*	859 ± 246	8214 ± 2180^#*	286 ± 58^#$
SWCNT/ T. gondii 10⁴	288 ± 51	1186 ± 387^#*	798 ± 138^#*	2696 ± 565^#	7245 ± 1023^#*	1048 ± 296*	11406 ± 2167^#*^$f	358 ± 52 ^#*^$f

Results are presented as mean ± SEM. Statistical significance was determined with one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni’s Multiple Comparison test. # = p < 0.05 indicates significant differences from PBS, * = p < 0.05 indicates significant differences from SWCNT, $ = p < 0.05 indicates significant differences from T. gondii 10³, and f = p < 0.05 indicates significant differences from SWCNT + T. gondii 10³. BAL fluid samples were obtained at 7 days post-exposure.

ISSN: 1743-8977