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. 2016 May 31;6:26836. doi: 10.1038/srep26836

Figure 4. IL-17A contributes to control of GAS colonization.

Figure 4

CFU levels of M28 GAS (A) and M1 GAS (B) in C57BL/6J and Balb/c models, respectively. IL-17A−/− mice of either the C57BL/6J (A) or Balb/c (B) genetic backgrounds exhibited significantly greater GAS CFU counts in vaginal specimens compared to WT C57BL/6J mice (n = 12 mice/group, RM-ANOVA, #p < 0.01) or Balb/c mice (n = 20 mice/group, area under the curve analysis, followed by Mann-Whitney U test, #p < 0.01). IL-17A−/− mice also exhibited an attenuated neutrophil influx in colonized vaginal washes compared to C57BL/6J control mice (panel C, n = 12 mice/group, RM-ANOVA, +: p < 0.001). Panels (D–F) represent cell counts of smears from vaginal swabs of Balb/c mice showing neutrophils (D), monocytes (E), and lymphocytes (F) and demonstrate significantly greater levels of neutrophils and monocytes at day 3 post-infection. Data are mean ± SEM of 9–15 mice and are 2 separate experiments combined. Mann-Whitney U-tests for each time point were used to compare inflammatory cell counts, with significance set at p < 0.05 for both, *p < 0.05.