Fig. 3.

Efficacy of aerosol treatment with PAM (1 mM and 3 mM) in a mouse model of acute P. aeruginosa airway infection. C57BL/6NCrlBR male mice (aged 8–10 weeks) received intratracheal inoculation with 1 × 10⁶ CFUs of planktonic PAO1 strain. Five minutes after infection, PAM (1 mM, or 3 mM or vehicle) were administered via an aerosolizer. After 6 h, mice were sacrificed, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected, and the lungs were excised and homogenized. Total cells (A), neutrophils (B) and macrophages (C) were counted on BALF. BALF and lung homogenates were centrifuged. MPO concentration was evaluated in the supernatants of BALF (D) and lung homogenate (E) by ELISA assay. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. BALF and lung homogenates were plated on tryptic soy agar to determine the bacterial burden (F). Each dot represents total CFUs per lung from one mouse, and horizontal lines represent the median values. Data are pooled from three independent experiments (n = 14–15 mice). Statistical significance is indicated: *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01