TABLE 3.

Splenocytes from MZB cell-depleted mice produce less IFN-γ^a

Mouse group	Mean IFN-γ (ng/ml) ± SD at day of infection:
	7	10	14
MZB cell depleted	13.1 ± 2.5b	55.4 ± 5.4c	21.6 ± 7.0d
Isotype control	74.2 ± 9.8	250 ± 15.0	106.7 ± 31.7

^aValues are the mean levels of IFN-γ (ng/ml) in culture supernatants ± standard deviations. A total of 5 × 10⁶ splenocytes were cultured with 10 μg of B. burgdorferi lysate for 72 h (days 7 and 10 of infection) or for 48 h (day 14 of infection). IFN-γ levels in the cell supernatants were determined by ELISA. P values were determined by a two-tailed Student's t test. The percentages of CD4⁺ T cells in both groups at each time point were similar (57.3 and 50.7, 71.3 and 52.9, and 60.8 and 59.4% for MZB cell-depleted and isotype control groups at days 7, 10, and 14, respectively).

^bP = <0.0001.

^cP = <0.0001.

^dP = 0.002.