FIG. 9.

Production of cytokines and chemokines in the lungs of mice treated or mock-treated with triamcinolone and infected with wt RSV or mG RSV, following the experimental scheme shown in Fig. 5A. Groups of mice treated with triamcinolone are indicated with a “t.” (A) Q-RT-PCR analysis of pulmonary mRNA. The difference in mRNA abundance in the infected-cell sample (normalized to an internal housekeeping mRNA control) compared to that of the mock-treated sample (normalized to an internal housekeeping control) was expressed in log₂ units. The values of the mock group were equal to 1. (B) Analysis of cytokine and chemokine expression at the protein level by ELISA, expressed as pg per g of lung tissue. All of the cytokines and chemokines shown in panel A also were analyzed in panel B, but the results are shown only for those where there was a clear change compared to the mock. Mean values ± SE are calculated based on four mice per group infected with wt RSV or mG RSV and treated with triamcinolone; all other groups contained three mice per group. Statistically significant differences between the values for the wt RSV-infected groups and the mG RSV-infected groups are indicated with asterisks.