Figure 7.

Ex vivo Zn supplementation restored Zn levels, GM-CSFR β expression, and phagocytosis. Alveolar macrophages from HIV-1–transgenic rats (8 months old) were isolated as described in Materials and Methods. Cells were cultured with or without Zn (1 and 10 μM) for 48 hours. (A) MCF for intracellular Zn by flow cytometry. (B and C) Percent positive cells and MCF for intracellular GM-CSFRβ expression by flow cytometry. (D) Phagocytic index of alveolar macrophages. Also shown in (D) are the representative merged images of alveolar macrophages (phase contrast) with ingested FITC-labeled, inactivated S. aureus. Intracellular Zn (MCF) and phagocytic index of alveolar macrophages from wild-type rats were 325 ± 12 and 100 ± 8, respectively. Each value in A–D represents the mean ± SEM of duplicates of pooled samples from three rats in each group. *P < 0.05 compared to control group.