Fig. 2

Plasma cytokine levels in CM children stratified by duration of coma prior to admission. Median plasma cytokine levels (pg/mL) at hospital presentation in CM children categorized into three groups based on the length of coma prior to admission [0–6 h (n = 45); 7–18 h, (n = 68); 19–48 h, (n = 33)]; a IL-1β, b IL-10, c IL-6, d IL-12, e IL-8, f TNF. Kruskal–Wallis test was used for paired group analysis, p value of ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The bar represents a median value. All the medians were similar for all the cytokines