a. PHA (10 μg/ml)-induced production of IFNɣ in asymptomatic control subjects and patients with acute and chronic LBP. At baseline, the mean levels of IFNɣ production in patients with acute LBP were significantly reduced in comparison with both asymptomatic controls (P = 0.01) and patients with chronic LBP (P = 0.005) (19). The post-SMT production of this cytokine remained significantly lower in acute LBP patients compared to the other study groups. b. Production of IL-1RA in WB cultures from the studied subjects. WB preparations from the studied controls and patients with acute and chronic LBP were stimulated with LPS (1 μg/ml) for 24 h. In patients with chronic LBP, the baseline production of IL-1RA was significantly increased in comparison with asymptomatic subjects and patients with acute LBP patients, (P = 0.006 and P = 0.03, respectively) (19). Following SMT treatments, the mean level of IL-1RA production in this patient group remained significantly higher (P = 0.05) than that in asymptomatic control
