FIG 2.

FTY720 significantly delays genital Chlamydia spreading to the gastrointestinal tract in CBA/J mice. Groups of female CBA/J mice (n = 10) infected intravaginally with Chlamydia were treated without (solid bar) or with (open bar) FTY720 throughout the experiment. All mice were monitored for live chlamydial organism shedding from both vaginal (a) and rectal (b) swabs, and the titers were expressed as log₁₀ inclusion-forming units (IFUs) per swab (y axis) on different days after intravaginal infection (x axis). The percentages of mice with positive detection of chlamydial organisms in swab samples are indicated on top of the bars when the percentages in the corresponding groups are less than 100%. Note that FTY720 treatment significantly reduced spreading of genital Chlamydia to gastrointestinal tract. n = 10; data are from two independent experiments. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01 (Wilcoxon rank sum).