Figure 4.

Frequency and absolute number of Th17 cells is significantly greater in the wound-draining lymph nodes of burn mice at all time points examined. Splenocytes and PLN cells were harvested at 3 days, 7 days, or 14 days after a 20% TBSA, full-thickness burn (black bar) or sham (white bar) injury. CD4⁺ T cells were enriched by negative magnetic selection and stimulated in vitro. Intracellular cytokine staining was performed, and flow cytometry was used to quantify IL-17⁺ CD4⁺ T cells. Data were expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean, *p ≤ 0.05 compared with matched sham controls by Student’s t test (n = 4–6 mice/group).