Figure 8. Regulation of palmitate-induced IL-6 and MCP-1 production by mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in orbital fibroblasts. Orbital fibroblasts were treated for 1 h with or without the designated inhibitor (20 μM), followed by treatment with palmitate (400 μM) for 24 h. Protein concentrations of IL-6 (A) and MCP-1 (C) were determined by ELISA. mRNA levels of IL-6 (B) and MCP-1 (D) were determined by quantitative real time-RT–PCR. Data are presented as the mean±SD of triplicate samples from a representative experiment. Similar results were observed in orbital fibroblasts from #1, #3, and #5 patients with TAO (Table 1). *p<0.05. SB, SB203580; PD, PD98059; and SP, SP 600125.