Concentration of cytokines in the peritoneal fluids of wild-type, mast cell–deficient, and mast cell–reconstituted mice of acute septic peritonitis. Peritonitis was induced in WBB6 F₁^+/+ (wild type; closed bar), WBB6 F₁-W/W^v (mast-cell deficient; open bar), wild-type BMMC–reconstituted WBB6 F₁-W/W^v (hatched bar), and p40^−/− BMMC–reconstituted WBB6 F₁-W/W^v mice (dotted bar) by CLP. Peritoneal exudates were collected at the indicated time (0 or 5 hours) after CLP induction. Levels of (A) p40, (B) TNF-α, and (C) IL-6 in the peritoneal fluids were determined using ELISA kits. Data represent mean ± SD of 5 mice. *P < .05; **P < .005, significantly different from the mean value of the corresponding control. nd indicates not detected.