Figure 1. Interleukin 6, interleukin 6 Receptor, and soluble glycoprotein 130 secretion by HCE cells exposed to Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa supernatants. Supernatants and mRNA from Staphylococcus aureus (SA)- and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA)-stimulated HCE cells (solid bars) and from control unstimulated cells (open bars) were collected at different time points. Bars represent the mean value of duplicates from three independent experiments. Values are expressed as mean±SEM, and statistical significance, when compared to control unstimulated cells, is indicated with asterisks (*p<0.05; **p<0.005; ***p<0.0005). Interleukin (IL-) 6, soluble IL-6 Receptor (sIL-6R), and soluble glycoprotein (sgp)130 were each secreted in a time-dependent manner. IL-6 secretion increased significantly in SA-stimulated cells but not in PA-stimulated cells. IL-6 mRNA expression was higher in control and SA-stimulated cells at 6 h and 24 h, but not at 72 h. In PA-stimulated cells, IL-6 mRNA levels were significantly lower than those of the controls at 6 h and 24 h. sIL-6R secretion did not change significantly under any condition; however, sgp130 secretion increased significantly in each condition at 6 h of stimulation and then significantly decreased at 24 h. By 72 h, there were no significant differences between the control and stimulated cells.