FIG. 7.

Caspase-1^−/− mice fail to discriminate between translocon-positive and -negative strains of P. aeruginosa early after infection. Age- and sex-matched caspase-1^−/− mice were infected intranasally with 5 × 10⁴ CFU of ΔUT or ΔpcrV bacteria and then sacrificed at 4 h.p.i. Each point represents the value for an individual animal. (A) Bacterial recovery from lung tissue is expressed as output (CFU per lung) over input (CFU per inoculum). Geometric means are indicated. (B to D) Total cells (B), macrophages (C), and neutrophils (D) recovered in BAL fluid are shown; bars indicate median values. There were no significant differences between groups (Mann-Whitney test). (E to H) Cytokine levels in BAL fluid were measured by Luminex. Cytokines levels in BAL fluid samples from 2 uninfected mice (UI) are shown for comparison. Median values do not differ significantly for ΔUT versus pcrV strain-infected animals (Mann-Whitney test). N.D., not detected. Data shown are from mice infected in two independent experiments with 5 to 6 per group.