C57BL/6 mice were infected with mildly virulent E. muris, and rIL-18 was administered at different time points after infection. On day 7 p.i., mice were sacrificed and liver sections from rIL-18 treated naive (A), untreated E. muris - infected mice (B), and rIL-18 treated EM-infected mice (C, D) were stained with H&E staining. Enhanced inflammatory infiltration and apoptotic cell death in rIL-18-treated E. muris-infected mice and were associated with fatty changes (arrowhead) (D), compared to naive or untreated but E. muris-infected mice. (E) Bacterial burden in the lungs, liver, kidney, and spleen determined by real-time PCR was higher in treated E. muris-infected mice compared to untreated controls on day 7 p.i. The data are shown as the means ± SD of three mice/ group. The data are representative of three independent experiments with similar results. **P < 0.01.