*4.9. Measurement of Plasma Levels of Inflammatory Mediators*

Plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, interferon gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), IL-10, IL-12p40, soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L), IL-1Ra, and IL-1β were determined using the HCYTOMAG-60K Cytokine/Chemokine Panel assay according to the manufacturer's instruction (MilliporeSigma, Waltham, MA, USA). Data were analyzed with five-parameter logistic regression by using the MILLIPLEX®Analyst (MilliporeSigma, Burlington, NJ, USA). The overall intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variability were calculated (<5% and 20%, respectively).
