Figure 3. Contribution of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species to the anti-Burkholderia activity of macrophages.

The contribution of ROS and RNS to host defense against B. mallei was assessed by comparing the antimicrobial activity of primary macrophages isolated from immunocompentent C57BL/6 mice (control) or congenic phox^−/−, iNOS^−/− or phox^−/−iNOS^−/−-immunodeficient mice. Selected groups of macrophages were treated with 200 U/ml IFNγ 16 h before infection. The number of B. mallei recovered from the macrophages was estimated 5 h after the infected macrophages were treated with gentamicin. Data from 16 independent observations gathered on 3 separate experiments are represented in box-and-whiskers plots as median, intraquartile and total ranges. *P<0.05 compared to unstimulated control macrophages. **P<0.05 compared to IFNγ-primed macrophages from C57BL/6 mice.