Fig. 2

Comparison of immune-activation markers in four groups of the study participants. The figure shows levels of a hs-CRP (mg/l), b sCD14 (ng/ml), c LPS (EU/ml) and d IL-6 (ng/ml) plotted on Y axis. Different study groups are shown on X-axis of the graphs. Medians values and interquartile ranges for the groups are plotted as bars and error bars. Number of samples used for the analysis are mentioned above the bars. The groups were compared using Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn’s post test analysis. Significant differences between the groups are indicated by (*)