Figure 1.

Obesity increases tuberculosis susceptibility. (a) C57BL/6 mice were fed with the LFD or HFD for 8 weeks and infected with M. tuberculosis by intra-tracheal (it) route. At 4 weeks post-infection (12 weeks of feeding), lungs were evaluated. (b) Body weight, (c) adipose tissue weight and (d) glycemia before infection (n = 15–26/group). (e) Body weight, (f) adipose tissue weight, (g) glycemia and (h) colony-forming unit (CFU) number in the lungs of lean and obese mice after infection (n = 8–13/group). (i) Representative lung sections stained with H&E (magnification 200×) (# perivascular infiltration, > peribronchial infiltration, * foamy macrophages) and (j) percentage of inflammation score (2 = moderate; 3 = severe). (k) MMP-1 mRNA expression and (l) cytokine levels in lung homogenates of lean and obese infected mice (n = 7–10/group). Data are representative of two independent experiments and are expressed as means ± SD. Bars show the significant difference between groups (p < 0.05).