Figure 2.

Mice that lack interleukin 23 (IL-23) signaling are protected from mortality and morbidity associated with Clostridium difficile. Mice infected on day 0 with 10⁴–10⁵ colony-forming units of C. difficile after 3 days of antibiotic pretreatment. IL-23p19^−/− knockout mice (A) and anti–IL-23p19 monoclonal neutralized mice (B) had decreased disease severity, as manifested by enhanced survival and decreased clinical scores. *P < .05, **P < .01. Abbreviations: IgG, immunoglobulin G; mAb, monoclonal antibody; WT, wild type.