Figure 6

ENS activation potentiates IL-6 production due to downregulation of TNF-α. (A) LPS-induced IL-6 production in rENSpc in the presence, or not, of anti-TNF-α (1 μg/ml and 10 μg/ml) was measured in an ELISA assay (five to seven independent samples). (B) The impact of EFS stimulation on IL-6 production by ENS cultures treated (+) with LPS (0.1 μg/ml) or without (−) (four to eight independent experiments). Values represent the mean ± SEM (Mann-Whitney U test; *P <0.05 as compared with control without LPS; #P <0.05 as compared with LPS treatment). EFS, electrical field stimulation; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; rENSpc, rat enteric nervous system; SEM, standard error of the mean; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor alpha.