Fig. 3. NaCl-rich condition primes Th17 polarization in mice with CIA. (A) Flow cytometry analysis of naïve CD4⁺ T cells in spleens isolated from control CIA mice (CIA) and high-salt-fed CIA mice (CIA+NaCl). Representative plots of Th17 population among naïve CD4⁺ T cells in both groups are presented, and fold increases were calculated as the percentage of CD4⁺RORγt⁺ Th17 cells relative to the percentage in control CIA mice. (B) Flow cytometry analysis of naïve CD4⁺ T cells isolated from CIA and CIA+NaCl mice cultured under Th17-polarizing conditions. Splenocytes were isolated from CIA mice fed a normal or a high-salt diet to evaluate the priming effect of NaCl on Th17 differentiation. Purified naïve CD4⁺ T cells were cultured under Th17 differentiating condition for 3 days. Representative plots of differentiated CD4⁺IL-17A⁺Th17 cells from naïve CD4⁺ T cells isolated from both groups were presented, and fold increases were calculated as the percentage of CD4⁺IL-17A⁺ Th17 cells relative to the percentage in the control CIA group. Data are representative of three independent experiments and are expressed as mean±SEM. ^*p<0.05.