Figure 2.

Cigarette smoke (CS) exposure-induced chronic lung inflammation. The mice were exposed to CS for a period of 4 weeks. (A) The representative flow cytometric plots of IFN-γ⁺ and IL-17A⁺ on CD4⁺ T cells in the lung. (B) The populations of IFN-γ⁺ and IL-17A⁺ cells in CD4⁺ T cells (n = 5). (C) The total cells, neutrophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid from the lung of mice were counted using Diff-Quick staining (n = 9–10). (D) The concentrations of the Th1 cytokines IFN-γ and TNF-α in the BAL fluid were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (n = 5). (E) The lung tissue sections were subjected to hematoxylin and eosin staining to assess histological changes and mean alveolar airspace (MAA) (n = 5). Assessment of lung histological change severity (left panel) was quantified using a 5-point score system. (F) MAA (right panel) was assessed using Image Pro-Plus 6 software based on histology (n = 5). Room air-exposed mice; air- and CS-exposed mice; CS. Data are shown as the mean ± SEM, and p value was estimated by unpaired t test (***p < 0.001 and **p < 0.01 vs. air).