Figure 4

Vertical bar chart for serum levels of IL-33 (A, C) and the IL-33/sST2 ratio (B, D) for various causes of CHF (A, B) and for different medications (C, D). Serum samples were obtained from 103, 39, 35, and 14 patients with coronary heart disease, hypertension, coronary heart disease and hypertension, and dilated cardiomyopathy, respectively. Data are expressed as quartiles and maxima. Serum levels of IL-33 and IL-33/sST2 ratios were not significantly different among CHF patients with various causes (A, B). IL-33 levels and the IL-33/sST2 ratio in patients under different drug therapies was similar (C, D). Statistical analyses were done using the Kruskal-Wallis test. The dotted line denotes the sensitivity of the ELISA kits. Abbreviations are the same as those shown in Table 1.