Fig. 5. Functionally impaired alveolar macrophages in offspring of influenza infected dams.
a Adoptive transfer experiments were performed in 2-week-old offspring followed by influenza B virus (IBV) infection 16 h post transfer (h p.t.). b, e Alveolar macrophages (AM) of 2-week-old male, p = 0.0058 (b) and female (e) offspring born to polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (poly(I:C))-treated mothers (n = 10 males, 10 females) or influenza A virus (IAV)-infected mothers (n = 11 males, 14 females) were pooled, and 105 AMs were transferred intranasally into offspring of the same sex (n = 5 [male, poly(IC)], 6 [male, IAV], 8 [female, poly(I:C)], 7 [female, IAV]) born to phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-treated mothers with subsequent infection of the sentinel-offspring 16 h post transfer with 105 plaque forming units (PFU) of IBV. c, d, f, g Alveolar macrophages of 2-week-old male (c, d) and female (f, g) offspring born to PBS-treated mothers (n = 22 males, 29 females) were pooled and 105 AMs were transferred intranasally into offspring of the same sex (n = 7 [male, poly(I:C)], 8 [female, poly(I:C)], 6 [male IAV, p = 0.0115 (1 dp.i.), p = 0.0050 (2d p.i.)], 6 [female IAV, p = 0.008 (1d p.i.), p = 0.0068 (2d p.i.), p = 0.0071 (3d p.i.)]) born to poly(I:C)-treated (c, f) or IAV-infected (d, g) mothers with subsequent infection of the sentinel-offspring 16 h post transfer with 105 PFU of IBV. Weight development was observed until 3 d p.i. h IBV lung titer from offspring born to PBS-treated dams and after transfer of AMs from poly(I:C)- or IAV-offspring with subsequent IBV challenge 12 h p.t. at 3 d p.i. (n = 10). Dotted lines indicate reference titers from IBV infected offspring without AM transfer (shown in Fig. 3). i IBV lung titer from offspring born to poly(I:C)-treated (n = 10) or IAV-infected, p = 0.089 (n = 9) dams and after transfer of AMs from PBS-offspring with subsequent IBV challenge 12 h p.t. at 3 d p.i. All experiments were also performed with PBS-treatment of the offspring post AM transfer but data are not shown to enhance clarity and all PBS-treated offspring were negative for reduced weight gain or virus titers, as expected. All data are presented as mean and SD. Different groups of male (♂) offspring are depicted in dark circles (PBS, medium squares (Poly(I:C)) or light triangles (IAV) in blue colors and female (♀) offspring in red colors. Different groups of offspring that were not stratified by sex are depicted in orange colors with the same icons. The statistical significance was calculated by two-tailed t-tests using the Bonferroni-Dunn multiple testing correction (b–g) or by Welch’s t test (two-tailed) (h, i) (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001). Non-significant comparisons are not depicted within the respective figures. PBS-treated groups were used as a reference and compared to IAV-infected groups in all statistical analyses unless stated otherwise. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.