Fig. 3

Effects of ligature-induced periodontitis on inflammatory cytokines in PBMCs. Periodontal ligature induced high expression of IL-1β, IL-8, IL-6, and IL-21 in PBMCs, while these changes were alleviated by CTS. RT-PCR was performed to detect the mRNA expression of cytokines in each group: a IL-1β (n = 4, F = 4.963, p = 0.0182), b IL-6 (n = 4, F = 7.600, p = 0.0041), c IL-8 (n = 4, F = 3.889, p = 0.0374), and d IL-21 (n = 4, F = 7.568, p = 0.0042). ELISA was performed to detect the protein expression of these cytokines in plasma in each group: e IL-1β (n = 5, F = 6.460, p = 0.0045), f IL-6 (n = 5, F = 11.09, p = 0.0003), g IL-8 (n = 5, F = 7.202, p = 0.0028), and h IL-21 (n = 5, F = 12.18, p = 0.0002). (n = 4–5 per group, one-way ANOVA, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001 compared to the control group; #p < 0.05, ##p < 0.01, and ###p < 0.001 compared to the CP group)