Anti–GM-CSF–positive sera, negative control sera, or FBS were preincubated for 30 minutes in a 96-well plate without stimulus or in the presence of GM-CSF (100 ng/mL; ImmunoTools, Friesoythe, Germany), IFN-γ (2 × 104 IU/mL; Immukin; Boehringer Ingelheim, Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany), or LPS (1 µg/mL, BioLabs) alone or in combination as indicated at a dilution of 1:5 in complete Dulbecco modified Eagle medium (Gibco, Carlsbad, Calif). U937 cells (ATCC CRL1593.2) were added at 1 × 105 cells per well and incubated for 24 hours (37°C in a 5% CO2 atmosphere).
Supernatants were obtained, and IL-6 levels were measured with a Luminex analyzer (R&D Systems Fluorokinemap and Bio-Plex, Bio-Rad Laboratories), according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.