Figure 8.

Effects of silica nanoparticles on inflammatory markers and alveolar-capillar permeability alterations induced by P.a infection. Mice were treated with SiO₂ NPs (5 mg/kg;100 μg/mice) (open bar) or vehicle (close bar) and 5 h later infected with PAK (2.5x10⁶ CFU/mice). 18 h after infection, number of neutrophils and concentration of cytokines (A), IgM and albumin (B) were measured in BALs (2 ml). Basal levels of KC, IL-6 TNFα in non-infected mice were 31 ± 7, 18 ± 4 and 26 ± 7 pg/ml (n = 4), respectively (see Figure 2). Basal levels of IL-12 and IL-1β were 50 ± 10 pg/ml and not detectable, respectively. Basal levels of IgM in BALs from non-infected mice were 17 ± 4 ng/ml (n = 5) (Figure 4). The dotted line in B) represents basal levels of albumin in non-infected mice. Mean ± SEM is represented from 7 to 8 mice per group, *p < 0.05 Mann–Whitney test.