Fig. 2.

The treatment with DMI suppresses the expression of inflammatory cytokines and increases the level of protective cytokines in lung tissues from mycobacteria-infected mice. WT mice (n = 5–6 per group) were infected intranasally with Mtb (5 × 10⁴ CFU), BCG (1 × 10⁷ CFU), or Mav (1 × 10⁷ CFU) followed by treatment with vehicle or DMI (50 mg/kg) in accordance with experimental schedule, and monitored at 7 dpi. Lung tissues from Mtb- (A) or BCG- (B) infected mice were used to qRT-PCR analysis to estimate the mRNA expression of Il6, Il10, Il1b, and Tnf. C, D The supernatants from lung lysates separated from BCG- (C) or Mav- (D) infected mice were used to ELISA analysis. Lung tissues from Mtb- (E) or BCG- (F) infected mice were used to qRT-PCR anlaysis to examine the mRNA expression of Ifng and Csf2. Mann–Whitney U test was used to examine the statistical analysis and the results were shown as means ± SEM from at least three independent experiments performed. DMI dimethyl itaconate, n.s. not significant, a.u. arbitrary unit. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001