Figure 5.

Depletion of neutrophils increases levels of growth factors, IL-10, and LIF but decreases IFN-γ, IL-2, and RANTES in lungs of mice infected with P. brasiliensis during the early stages of infection. BALB/c mice were challenged intranasally with 1.5 × 10⁶ P. brasiliensis (Pb18) yeast cells and treated with an isotype control Ab or the anti-Ly6G mAb specific to neutrophils. Supernatants from lung homogenates of mice sacrificed at 96 h after infection were analyzed using a commercial kit and the Luminex System as described in Material and Methods. Data shown represent median and IQR (n = 4-5 mice/group; representative of two independent experiments). ^∗ P < 0.05 and ^∗∗ P < 0.01 comparing infected-untreated mice versus control mice or comparing infected-anti-Ly6G mAb-treated mice versus infected-untreated mice. ^δ P < 0.01 comparing infected-isotype control antibody-treated mice versus infected-anti-Ly6G mAb-treated mice. PBS, control mice; PBS + Iso, control mice treated with isotype control Ab (clone: 2A3); PBS + antineutrophils, control mice treated with anti-Ly6G mAb (clone: 1A8); Pb18, infected-untreated mice; Pb18 + Iso, infected mice treated with isotype control Ab; Pb18 + antineutrophils, infected mice treated with anti-Ly6G mAb; ns: not significant.