FIG 5.

Effect of intranasal IL-7–mFc pretreatment on protection against IAV infection in BALB/c-nude mice. BALB/c-nude and WT BALB/c mice were treated with PBS or IL-7–mFc and infected with 3 LD₅₀ of H5N2. (A) Weight loss and survival. Average body weight loss is shown as the mean ± SEM for 10 mice per group, and the survival rate was analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method. The data are representative of two independent experiments. †, P < 0.05; ††, P < 0.01 (by log rank test). (B) The levels of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in the BALF were analyzed by ELISA. (C) The numbers of pulmonary neutrophils were analyzed at 7 dpi by flow cytometry. The results are expressed as the mean ± SEM for 8 mice per group. The data are representative of two independent experiments with similar results. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01 (by Student's t test). White bars, PBS-treated WT mice; black bars, IL-7–mFc-treated WT mice; white bars with horizontal lines, PBS-treated BALB/c-nude mice; white bars with vertical lines, IL-7–mFc-treated BALB/c-nude mice.