Sera were collected from patients at baseline and on days 1, 2, 3, and 7. IL-6, IL-2, IFN-γ, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) concentrations were measured with ELISA commercial kits (DRG Diagnostics, Marburg, Germany), using an automated immunoassay analyzer (Stat Fax, Los Angeles, California, USA). Levels of 48 different human cytokines and chemokines in culture supernatants were determined using Bio-Plex kits (BioRad, Hercules, California, USA), as previously described.21 (link)