TABLE 1.

Histological evaluation of Mycobacterium-induced colitis progression in IL-10^−/− mice^a

Treatment	No. of mice	Colitis disease score (0-12)	SAA concn (μg/ml)
Live M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis	15	7.67 ± 1.23*	287.6 ± 21*
Heat-killed M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis	15	3.01 ± 1.01	151.3 ± 16
Cream only	15	1.87 ± 0.89	89.5 ± 4.6
No treatment (wild-type B6 mice)	5	0	13.4 ± 0.6

^aThe persistence of colitis was monitored by evaluating SAA levels and histopathological changes in the colons of IL-10^−/− mice with a B6 background. Mice received a single dose of 200 μl of control (cream), 10⁴ CFU of live M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis in cream, or 10⁴ CFU of heat-killed M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis in cream by gavage or were untreated (wild-type B6 mice) and housed under otherwise germfree conditions. Following euthanasia, colons were fixed, sectioned at 6 μm, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The sections were examined microscopically at a magnification of ×40 and scored according to the severity of colitis. The data presented for concentrations of SAA are the means ± standard errors of the means, as determined by ELISA in three separate experiments. Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences, i.e., P values of <0.01 between experimental groups. Experimental groups consisted of 15 mice each.