FIG 4.

Effects of LiCl on the bactericidal activity of macrophages. RAW264.7 cells (4 × 10⁵ cells/well) were cocultured for 2 h with K. pneumoniae NK-9 cells at a ratio of bacteria to RAW264.7 cells of 200:1. Subsequently, the free bacteria outside the cells were washed, DMEM containing gentamicin and various concentrations of LiCl was added to the cells, and the cells were cultured for another 4 h or 14 h. At the indicated times, the cells were lysed and the live intracellular bacteria were counted as described in Materials and Methods. *, P < 0.05, compared with the group not treated with LiCl.