FIG 1.

CEA10 and Af293 induce different levels of pulmonary damage. C57BL/6 mice were challenged i.t. with 4 × 10⁷ CEA10 or Af293 conidia. (A) At 24 or 40 hpi, mice were euthanized, and lungs were removed to observe the gross pathology of infected lungs at 24 h or for histological analysis of inflammation by H&E staining at 40 h in C57BL/6 mice infected with CEA10 (left) or Af293 (right). (B) At 12 hpi, mice were euthanized, BALF was collected, and lung tissue was homogenized. Lung damage and leakage were quantified by measuring LDH and albumin levels, respectively, in the BALF. (C) IL-1α levels in the lung homogenate. (D) Spearman rank-order correlation for LDH and IL-1α levels in mice infected with CEA10 (blue dots) or Af293 (red dots) (Spearman r = 0.8846; P = 0.0001). Data are representative of results from at least 2 independent experiments with at least 5 mice per group. Bar graphs show group means ± 1 standard error of the mean. Statistically significant differences in panel B were determined by using Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA with Dunn's posttest. Statistically significant differences in panel C were determined by using a Mann-Whitney U test (*, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01).