Table 1.

Impaired bacterial clearance of MEs of the Asc^−/− knockout mice. No CFUs were detected by d 5 after NTHi infection in C57BL/6 mice. Bacterial clearance was impaired in Asc^−/− mice through 10 d after infection. Bacterial colonization of chocolate-agar plates was evaluated using a semi-quantitative technique to generate a CS: 0 indicated no CFUs; 1 indicated one quadrant with CFUs; 2 indicated two quadrants with CFUs; 3 indicated three quadrants with CFUs; and 4 indicated four quadrants with CFUs. Six MEs were scored per time point.

Time after NTHi inoculation	C57BL/6 WT culture positive plates	C57BL/6 WT mean bacterial CS	Asc−/− mean positives plates	Asc−/− mean bacterial CS
Day 1	4/6	4.00	3/6	1.67
Day 2	6/6	3.00	3/6	2.33
Day 3	3/6	1.00	6/6	4.00
Day 5	0/6	0.00	4/6	2.50
Day 10	0/6	0.00	2/6	1.00