Figure 5.

BCG granuloma formation, iNOS activity and bacillary loads are similar in IL-12p40 tg and non-transgenic mice. The number of liver granulomas (a) at 4 weeks of BCG infection were counted in IL-12p40 tg and in non-transgenic mice (n = 5 mice/group). Data are represented as means ± SEM of the number of granulomas per mm² tissue section. These results are representative of two independent experiments. Macrophage iNOS activity (b) was assessed in spleen protein extracts of IL-12p40 tg and control mice 4 weeks after BCG infection. Data are represented as means of c p.m. (± SEM) of four to five mice per group. These results are representative of two independent experiments. iNOS immunostaining of liver sections of control (c) and IL-12p40 tg mice (d) at 4 weeks of BCG infection. Pictures in this figure are representative of five mice per group. Magnifications: 400×. (e and f), IL-12p40 mice are able to control and eliminate BCG in infected organs. Bacterial loads were determined in lungs (e) and spleen (f) 2, 4, and 8 weeks after i.v. inoculation with 10⁷ CFU of BCG. The figure represents means ± SEM from five mice per group. Experiments were repeated twice with comparable results.