Figure 3.

Blockade of Toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) alleviates the exaggerated response of Nr1i2^−/− mice to intrarectal instillation of TcdA/B. A, Colonic expression of tlr4 in WT and Nr1i2^−/− mice (n = 4‐5 per group). B, Survival curve of WT and Nr1i2^−/− mice following pretreatment with an anti‐TLR4 antibody then intrarectal exposure to TcdA/B (n = 4 per group). C, Representative histological images and total damage scores. D, representative flow cytometry plots and associated cell counts of infiltrating Ly6C^hi monocytes (CD11b⁺Ly6C⁺), neutrophils (CD11b⁺Ly6G⁺), and eosinophils (CD11b⁺Siglec‐F⁺), and (E) the expression of various colonic cytokines in the colon of WT and Nr1i2^−/− mice following pretreatment with isotype or anti‐TLR4 antibody then 2 h of exposure to TcdA/B (n = 4‐10 per group). Gene expression was normalized to β‐actin (Actb). All data are expressed as SEM. Student's t test, *P < .05, **P < .01, ***P < .005