Figure 3.

Hematoxylin-eosin-stained sections of bone after intratibial challenge with 10⁶ CFU of S. aureus HU-85a or HU-85c. The strain obtained earlier in the study (HU-85a; C,D) induced marked alterations that include bone cortex with irregular border/necrosis and bone marrow substituted by inflammatory infiltrates and invaded by trabecular structures. The strain obtained later in the study (HU-85c; E,F) induced less pathological changes, including significant inflammatory infiltrate composed of mononuclear cells and reduction of fat cells while the bone cortex exhibited conserved regular borders. (A,B) are stained sections of control, unchallenged tibias that exhibit normal bone marrow with fat tissue and cells, and a bone cortex with laminar structure.