Fig. 2

Influence of particle instillation on pro-inflammatory cytokines. Instillation of diesel exhaust particles (DEP) increased IL-6 concentrations in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) (i), but apparent increases of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α (ii) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (iii) did not achieve significance. Carbon black (CB) increased concentrations of IL-6 and CRP, whilst DQ12 quartz increased CRP. (iv) In plasma, carbon black (CB; light grey columns) or DQ12 quartz (dark grey columns), increased concentrations of CRP compared with controls (white columns), whereas DEP (black columns) did not. Data are mean ± s.e.mean (n = 6) and were compared with relevant control using Student’s unpaired t-test or one-way ANOVA, as appropriate. *P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001. ns = not significant