Fig. 2 in Anti-tumour necrosis factor activity in saliva of various tick species and its appearance during the feeding period

Fig. 2. Anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) activity in tick salivary glands during feeding. Salivary gland extract (SGE) was prepared from females of Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus, 1758) either unfed (day 0) or fed for 2, 4, 6 and 8 days. Various concentrations of SGE protein were preincubated for 1.5 h with 2 ng/ml of mouse recombinant TNF before the cytokine ELISA was performed. PBS instead of SGE was added into negative control. Results are presented as the mean ± SD of triplicate wells. *The difference between saliva-treated and untreated group was signif- icant at P <0.05.