Fig. 4

Cytokine production by young or aged PBMCs is altered by PMA/ionomycin treatment. PBMCs from young (n = 6) or aged (n = 4) adults were incubated with either no adjuvants (media), polyanhydride nanoparticles (NP), Micelles (Mi), LPS, PMA/ionomycin (PMA), or cyclic dinucleotide (CDN) adjuvant for 24 h and analyzed for production of cytokines typically associated with secretion by T cells (IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, IL-13, IL-17). A main effect of treatment was found for all cytokines (p < 0.05), with significantly increased concentrations induced by PMA/ionomycin treatment compared to media alone or other treatments, as based on post-hoc analysis (except IL-4 as trend). NP increased IL-9 as compared to media alone (p < 0.05). Also, a main effect of age was found with greater levels in supernatants from young adults relative to older adults (p < 0.05). with the exception of IL-5 (p = 0.06)