Figure 3.

Filgrastim has no protective effect against C. perfringens infection in skeletal muscle. (A–C) Mice were subcutaneously injected with 1.5 µg of filgrastim (FGS) or the same volume of phosphate buffered saline (PBS), bone marrow cells (BMCs) were isolated after 24 h, and flow cytometry analysis was performed. A representative flow cytometry profile of three independent experiments (A) and the proportion (B, n = 3) and absolute number (C, n = 3) of CD11b⁺Ly-6G/6C^low immature neutrophils are shown. (D–F) Mice were intramuscularly injected with 1 × 10⁷ CFU of C. perfringens Strain 13 (Wild-type), PLC-KO (PLC-KO), or TGY medium as a control (Control). Shortly after the injection, 1.5 µg of filgrastim (FGS) or the same volume of PBS was administered subcutaneously and muscles were isolated 24 h after infection. (D) Representative H&E-stained sections of three independent experiments are shown. (E) The diameters of at least 100 muscle fibers of three independent experiments were measured. (F) Plasma creatine kinase activities were determined using a creatine kinase activity assay kit (n = 5–8). One-way ANOVA or the two-tailed Student’s t-test was employed to assess significance. Values are the mean ± standard error. ** p < 0.01;*** p < 0.001; n.s., not significant.