Figure 1.

The inulin-enriched diet protects against lethal P. aeruginosa infection by reinforcing γδ T cells. (A) Experimental schedule. C57BL/6 mice were fed a control or an inulin-enriched diet (7.2% in drinking water) (n = 4–6 mice per group) starting 15 days before intranasal infection with 3 × 10⁶ CFU of P. aeruginosa. (B) Survival curves of mice treated and infected as described in (A). (C–E) Frequency of pulmonary IL-17-producing cells gated on CD45⁺ CD3⁺ γδ TcR ⁺, defined as γδ T cells (C), CD45⁺ CD3⁺ γδ TcR⁻ CD4⁻, defined as CD8⁺ T cells (D) or CD45⁺ CD3⁺ γδ TcR⁻, CD4⁺, defined as CD4⁺ T cells (E) from mice treated as in (A) 12 h post-infection. Graphs show the mean ± SEM. Statistically significant results are indicated by: ns = non-significant, * p < 0.05, by Mann–Whitney tests.