Fig. 2

Ghrelin and GH in combination restores immune response in aged septic rats. Rats were subjected to sham or CLP operation and treated with vehicle (normal saline) or GG (ghrelin 80 nmol/kg, GH 50 μg/kg) at 5 h after CLP. In an additional group of rats, vagotomy was performed at the time of CLP and treated with GG at 5 h after CLP. Spleens were harvested at 20 h after CLP. Splenocytes were isolated and stimulated with LPS (100 ng/ml) for 5 h. The release of (a) TNF-α and (b) IL-6 in the medium were measured by ELISA. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM (n = 4–5 rats/group). *P < 0.05 vs. sham; ^#P < 0.05 vs. CLP with vehicle treatment; ^†P < 0.05 vs. CLP with GG treatment