Fig. 6

Gemcitabine induced systemic and intratumoral Th2 biased cytokine environment, aspirin weakened these effects of gemcitabine, however Lipitor augmented these effects. a. The cytokines in spleen were measured by real time RT-PCR. The results indicated that gemcitabine reduced the levels of IL-6, TNF-α and IL-2, however it increaed the levels of IL-4. Lipitor increased the levels of IL-4 and TGF-β. Aspirin lowered down IL-6. And the results were confirmed by the elisa tests (d). b. The cytokines in tumor tissues were measured by real time RT-PCR. The results indicated that gemcitabine reduced the intratumoral levels of IL-6, INF-γ, TNF-α and IL-2, however it elevated the levels of IL-4, IL-10 and TGF-β. Lipitor increased the levels of IL-4, IL-10 and TGF-β. Aspirin lowered down IL-4, IL-10, TGF-β and IL-6. And the results were confirmed by the elisa tests (e). c. The arginase in spleens and tumor tissues were detected by real time RT-PCR. The results confirmed the results of FCM, that is, gemcitabine inhibited MDSC, aspirin inhibited MDSC as well, however Lipitor did not affect MDSC significantly. Each experiment was performed in triplicats and the representative one was shown. . ANOVA analysis, SNK-q test, ^* P < 0.05, ^** P < 0.01