Decreased IL-1β/IL-1RA ratio following GP + TSST-1 when compared to TSST-1. Time course (48 h) of the IL-1β/IL-1RA ratio following incubation of human PBMC with LPS, TSST-1, GP + LPS, GP/LPS calc., GP + TSST-1 or GP/TSST-1 calc. LPS and GP + LPS treatments resulted in generating more IL-1β than IL-1RA up to 24 h. When comparing LPS or GP/LPS calc. vs GP + LPS we did not find significant alterations in the IL-1β/IL-1RA ratio over 48 h. With respect to TSST-1 or GP/TSST-1 calc. vs GP + TSST-1 we observed a pronounced anti-inflammatory action of GP, as demonstrated by an about 10–100 fold reduced ratio at 18 h and 24 h, i.e. a higher production of IL-1RA than of IL-1β (* = p < 0.05). Data are shown as mean ± SEM (n = 3).