Purpose: Cytokine data sets are increasing both in the number of different cytokines measured and the number of samples assayed. Further, typically data from different groups may be contrasted, eg, normal vs complication subjects. Many univariate and multivariate statistical techniques exist to study such cytokine datasets, but the ability to implement these techniques may be lacking for some practitioners, or may not be available quickly and conveniently. Here, we introduce CytokineExplore, an online tool for multi-cytokine and multi-group data analysis of user-provided Microsoft Excel data files.
Materials and Methods: In order to illustrate the tool features, we use data from intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), a pregnancy complication, and normal healthy subjects as a control. The dataset contains levels for 10 cytokines, namely: IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-18, IL-23, interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and tumour necrosis-alpha (TNF-α), obtained from 34 women with IUGR (further divided into 17 symmetric and 17 asymmetric cases) and 24 gestationally age-matched normal controls.
Results: The online tool automatically generates box-plots, histograms, PCA and PLSDA plots, t-tests and Mann–Whitney statistical tests, cytokine importance values for separating two groups, heatmaps for comparing multiple groups, and other functionalities. Figures generated can be directly downloaded for use in presentations or journal articles.
Conclusion: The tool facilitates quick and easy numerical exploration and multivariate analysis of cytokine datasets, to aid basic understanding and hypothesis generation.

Keywords: cytokines, data analysis, multivariate statistics, diagnostics, pregnancy complications, intrauterine growth retardation


中文翻译：

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CytokineExplore：细胞因子浓度数据集统计分析的在线工具。


目的：细胞因子数据集测量的不同细胞因子的数量和分析的样品数量都在增加。此外，通常可以对比来自不同组的数据，例如正常受试者与并发症受试者。存在许多单变量和多变量统计技术来研究此类细胞因子数据集，但某些从业者可能缺乏实施这些技术的能力，或者可能无法快速方便地获得。在这里，我们介绍 CytokineExplore，这是一种对用户提供的 Microsoft Excel 数据文件进行多细胞因子和多组数据分析的在线工具。

材料和方法：为了说明该工具的功能，我们使用宫内生长迟缓（IUGR）（一种妊娠并发症）的数据和正常健康受试者作为对照。该数据集包含 10 种细胞因子的水平，即：IL-4、IL-6、IL-8、IL-10、IL-12、IL-13、IL-18、IL-23、干扰素-γ (IFN-γ)和肿瘤坏死-α (TNF-α)，取自 34 名 IUGR 女性（进一步分为 17 名对称病例和 17 名不对称病例）和 24 名孕龄匹配的正常对照。

结果：在线工具自动生成箱线图、直方图、PCA 和 PLSDA 图、 t检验和 Mann-Whitney 统计检验、用于分离两组的细胞因子重要性值、用于比较多个组的热图以及其他功能。生成的图表可以直接下载以用于演示或期刊文章。

结论：该工具有助于快速、轻松地对细胞因子数据集进行数值探索和多变量分析，以帮助基本理解和假设生成。


关键词：细胞因子、数据分析、多变量统计、诊断、妊娠并发症、宫内生长迟缓