Figure 3.

Breast regression protein‐39 (BRP‐39) deficiency attenuates respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)‐induced inflammatory changes in mice. A‐D, At 7 dpi, wild‐type (WT) mice showed greater weight loss (A), airway resistance (B), and higher numbers of total and differentiated inflammatory cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (C). D, H&E staining of lung sections showing perivascular and peribronchiolar infiltration of inflammatory cells in RSV‐infected WT mice. Inflammatory responses induced by RSV infection were markedly decreased in BRP‐39 knockout (KO) mice. Mucus production evaluated by periodic acid‐Schiff staining (E) and ELISA (F). RSV infection increased mucus production in WT but not BRP‐39 KO mice. G, Loss of BRP‐39 had no effect on lung viral load at 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 dpi. Values in A‐D represent mean ± SD of at least three independent experiments. n.s., not significant. In panels A and D, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 for WT PBS vs WT RSV and ⁺ P < 0.05, ⁺⁺ P < 0.01, ⁺⁺⁺ P < 0.001 for WT RSV vs KO RSV. In panel B, ***P < 0.001 for WT RSV vs WT PBS and KO RSV [Colour figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]