Quantitative analysis of pathogens in the lower respiratory tract of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Table 6 Cytokine levels in BALF supernatants obtained from patients in the HS, stable COPD and AECOPD groups

Cytokines (pg/ml)	HS	Stable COPD patients	AECOPD patients
Cytokines (pg/ml)	(n = 33)	(n = 34)	(n = 32)
IL-1β	0.15 ± 0.05	0.21 ± 0.07^**	0.58 ± 0.13^**##
IL-6	0.64 ± 0.15	1.05 ± 0.21^**	2.07 ± 0.22^**##
IL-8	6.81 ± 1.59	9.50 ± 1.3^**	31.39 ± 6.02^**##
IL-10	0.10 ± 0.06	0.18 ± 0.06^**	0.30 ± 0.10^**##
TNF-α	0.02 ± 0.01	0.05 ± 0.01^**	0.27 ± 0.11^**##

All data are expressed as means ± SEM. ^*P < 0.05 and ^**P < 0.01 vs. the HS group; ^#P < 0.05 and ^##P < 0.01 vs. the stable COPD group. HS, Healthy subjects

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