Wild-type (WT) and CD25KO mice were subjected to a cocktail of oral antibiotics (ABX) for 4 weeks starting at 4 weeks of age and compared to CD25KO at 8 weeks of age that drank normal water (n = five/group). All groups were born and raised in conventional specific-free pathogen vivarium. (A) Representative pictures of haematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained sections of lacrimal glands. Large inset squares are high magnification of small insets, 10X objective, scale bar = 100 μm. (B) Inflammation scores of lacrimal gland pathology. Bar graphs show means ± SEM of two independent experiments, final n = five animals. Nonparametric Mann–Whitney U statistical tests were used to make comparisons.(C) Relative fold of expression of IFN-γ and IL-12 in lacrimal glands. Bar graphs show means ± SEM of five samples per group. Parametric t-tests were used to make comparisons between groups.
****P<0.0001 wild-type vs. CD25KO comparisons (with and without antibiotics)