FIGURE 2.

The absence of 12/15-LOX results in impaired fungal clearance and increased lung damage during A. fumigatus lung infection. C57BL/6 WT and 12/15-LOX-deficient (Alox15^−/−) mice were challenged intratracheally with 7 × 10⁷ A. fumigatus conidia. (A) Lung fungal burden at 6, 12, and 24 h postchallenge was assessed by real-time PCR analysis of A. fumigatus 18S rRNA levels. The figure illustrates cumulative data from two to three independent studies (n = 4–6 mice per group per study). Each circle represents an individual mouse. Line within a given group represents the mean. (B) Representative Grocott-Gomori’s methenamine silver (GMS)-stained lung sections from WT mice (left) and Alox15^−/− mice (right). Original magnification ×40. Scale bar, 1000 μm. (C) Percent germination was calculated by enumerating the total number of organisms and the number of germinated organisms from two randomly selected fields per animal (n = 2–3 mice per group). (D and E) Bronchoalveolar lavage was performed with 1 ml of PBS at 24 h postchallenge. The clarified BALF was analyzed for (D) total protein and (E) lactate dehydrogenase levels. The figure illustrates cumulative data from two to three independent studies (n = 3–4 mice per group per study). Controls include naive mice (n = 1–2 per group per study). Each circle represents an individual mouse. Line within a given group represents the mean. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 (unpaired two-tailed Student t test).