Figure 2. ScsA mediates cortisol-induced increase in proliferation of Salmonella, both in vitro and in vivo.

(a) Shown is the effect of cortisol on the log₁₀ values + standard deviation of intracellular Salmonella Typhimurium WT, ΔscsA, ΔscsA^c and ΔscsA^pGV1106 bacteria in porcine macrophages. An asterisk (*) refers to a significant difference compared to the condition without cortisol (P ≤ 0.05). Panels (b,c) illustrate the effect of dexamethasone exposure on the recovery of Salmonella WT and ΔscsA from organs of DBA/2J mice. The log₁₀ value of the CFU/gram sample is given as the mean + standard error of the mean. Significant differences are signed with a, b, c (P ≤ 0.017) and a tendency with B (P ≤ 0.033).