Statistics
Categorical data were compared using the χ2 test. The
significance of group comparisons was determined using either the
Mann-Whitney test or Kruskal-Wallis test for multiple comparisons, as
appropriate. Error bars represent mean ± SEM. Normal Gaussian
distribution of continuous variables was determined using the
D’Agostino-Pearson omnibus normality test. Correlations between
cytokines and continuous variables were determined with either the
Pearson correlation coefficient for data with a normal distribution or
the nonparametric Spearman correlation for data with a non-Gaussian
distribution. For all analyses, p < 0.05 was considered
significant. All calculations were performed using GraphPad Prism 7.0
(GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA).