The statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 21.0
for Windows (IBM1 SPSS1 Statistics, IBM, NY, USA).
Cytokines and immunological parameters (immunoglobulins
and number of IFN-g SC) were checked for normality
by analysis of variance (ANOVA). Group was used as fixed
factor. For blood samples, data recorded at day 0 were used
as a covariate. When the criteria of normality were not
fulfilled, a non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA was
used. Results were considered significantly different at
p < 0.05 (two-sided test).