Injections of β-GalCer (C12) improve lupus and injections of α-GalCer (C8) worsen lupus in NZB/W mice. (A) shows the percentage of NZB/W female mice without proteinuria and (B) shows the percentage surviving versus age of mice (in weeks). Mice were given intraperitoneal injections twice per week starting at 10 weeks of age until death using either vehicle (PBS), 50 μg β-GalCer (C12) each, or 20μg α-GalCer (C8) each. There were 25, 10, and 9 and mice in the vehicle, β-GalCer, and α-GalCer groups. (C) shows the total serum IgG2a concentrations of the vehicle and β-GalCer treated groups between 10 to 26 weeks of age. Points represent means and brackets represent standard errors. (D) shows serum concentrations of IgG2a anti-dsDNA antibodies of the vehicle and β-GalCer treated groups. There were 10 samples in each group. In (E) and (F) NZB/W female mice were given 800 μg β-GalCer (C12) orally 3 times per week starting at age 22 weeks (5.5 months). Panels show percentage of mice without proteinuria, and percentage of mice surviving versus age. Control mice received twice weekly intraperitoneal injections of vehicle. There were 25 mice in the control group, and 10 mice in the experimental group.