Fig. 4

Circulating cytokines and chemokines levels. (a) Plasma levels of CCL2, IL-18, IL-1ra and IL-2ra before (black columns) and after (grey columns) five one-a-day sessions of WBC in non-professional soccer players. Figures showing the single values in a box and whiskers plot. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001 (b) Plasma STRING analysis for the interactions among CCL2, IL-18, IL-1ra and IL-2ra. Blu and pink lines represent known interactions, from curated database and experimentally determined, respectively. Purple line indicates protein homology. CCL2 indicates C-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 2; IL-18, Interleukin 18; IL-1ra, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist; IL-2ra, interleukin 2 receptor subunit alpha; WBC, whole-body cryotherapy; STRING, Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins.