Analyses of IL-1 beta concentration in DCs supernatant culture post LPS stimulus between HbSS patients without and with pneumonia history (A-C); analysis of TLR4 mRNA expression between HbSS patients without and with leg ulcer history (D); analysis of hemoglobin concentration between HbSS patients with different plasma IL-1 beta concentration (E) and analyses of IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha and IL-10 concentration pre and post LPS stimulus (F-H). Statistical analyses in A-C and E-F were developed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test (two-tailed); in D was used the unpaired T test (two-tailed).