FIG. 1.

Susceptibility to LPS-induced liver injury and lethal shock in BCG-primed IL-15 Tg mice. (A) Survival after LPS injection of IL-15 Tg and control C57BL/6 mice that had been inoculated with BCG 7 days previously. Mice were primed by i.v. injection of M. bovis BCG (1 mg ≈ 10⁶ CFU) via tail veins and were challenged with an i.v. injection of LPS (10 μg) 7 days later. The survival rates after LPS challenge were calculated. **, significantly different from the value for control mice (P value of <0.01 by the generalized Wilcoxon test). Seven to 10 mice per group were used per experiment. The typical results of one of three independent experiments are shown. (B) Liver injuries in BCG-primed IL-15 Tg mice and control mice after LPS injection. Sera were collected at the indicated times after LPS challenge from IL-15 Tg mice and control C57BL/6 mice that had been inoculated i.v. with BCG 7 days previously. ALT levels in serum after LPS challenge in BCG-primed mice are shown. Data are presented as means + standard deviations (SDs) for five mice. **, P < 0.01.