Figure 4. Chronic LPS or MSU administration restores regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokine transcription in infected RAG^−/− mice.

Groups of S. mansoni-infected RAG^−/− mice were repeatedly treated throughout pre-patent infection with either LPS (A, C, E) or MSU (B, D, F), as described in Materials and Methods. At 6 weeks p.i., mice were euthanized and spleens removed for analysis of IL-1β (A and B), TNF (C and D) and CCL2 (E and F) mRNA content by real-time PCR. Horizontal bars represent mean values for each experimental group. P values were calculated using the Mann Whitney test.