Fig. 2

Serum levels of inflammatory mediators in IGR subjects with TCM body constitutions. Serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were measured by ELISA, and their associations with Phlegm-damp (a, d), Damp-heat (b, e) and Qi-deficiency (c, f) were investigated. Serum IL-6 and TNF-α levels are significantly higher in IGR subjects with Phlegm-damp or with Damp-heat constitutions as compared with IGR subjects without respective constitutions. Box plots are displayed, where the bold black line indicates the median per group, the box represents 50% of the values, and horizontal lines show minimum and maximum values of the calculated non-outlier values; open circles indicate outlier values. Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test was performed. *P<0.05. IGR: impaired glucose regulation; IL-6: interleukin 6; TNF-α: tumour necrosis factor-α