Fig 3.

Ovariectomized mice display a severe proinflammatory response upon UPEC infection. (A) Urine inflammation scores are higher in UPEC-infected OVX mice than SHAM mice at 24 and 72 hpi. *, P < 0.05 (by Mann-Whitney U test). (B) Bioplex cytokine assay of sera reveals more IL-6 secreted in UPEC-infected OVX mice than SHAM mice at 6 hpi, reversible upon E2 supplementation. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01 (by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's multiple-comparison posttest). (C) Inflammation scoring of bladder tissue at 24 hpi reveals higher scores in OVX mice than SHAM mice, reversible upon E2 supplementation. *, P < 0.05 (by Mann-Whitney U test). (D to F) Hematoxylin and eosin staining of bladders from SHAM, OVX, and OVX+E2 mice at 24 hpi depicts greatest inflammation (arrow points to neutrophils) and edema (arrowhead) in OVX mice. Bar = 40 μm.