Figure 1

Levels of cytokines secreted by PBMC from healthy (n = 9 to 12) or HCV-infected (n = 13 to 15) donors after 48 hr culture with media, recombinant IFN-alpha (rIFN-α, 125 IU/ml), ribavirin (RBV, 5 μM), non-CpG control ODN, A-Class, B-Class or C-Class CpG (all ODN at 6 μg/ml). White bars (Healthy) and black bars (HCV), show mean values and standard error of the means for each group of subjects. The lowest limit of quantification for each of the parameters was as follows: IFN-α, 31.2 pg/ml, IL-10, 23.4 pg/ml and IP-10, 7.8 pg/ml.