Figure 5. Influence of α-crystallin based prime boost vaccination on pulmonary fibrosis following M. tuberculosis infection.

The figure depicts representative photomicrographs (10×) of Van Gieson stained lung sections of guinea pigs euthanized at (A) 10 weeks and (B) 16 weeks post-infection. Saline group exhibited extensive fibrosis or collagen deposition (red color) in granulomatous lesions; BCG group exhibited increased fibrosis with time and B/D group showed complete disease resolution with no evident sign of fibrosis. Scale bar represents 1 mm. Extent (Q) of pulmonary fibrosis was measured by light microscopy [Q = Intensity (I) X area (A) of staining] and represented graphically as median (± inter quartile range). B/D, BCG prime – DNAacr boost. **, p<0.01 (Mann-Whitney U test).