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Figure 1 | Respiratory Research

Figure 1

From: Susceptibility to ozone-induced airway inflammation is associated with decreased levels of surfactant protein D

Figure 1

A decrease in BAL SP-D levels was associated with significantly increased inflammation in Balb/c mice 6 hrs after O3 exposure. Groups of Balb/c (grey bars) and C57BL/6 (black bars) mice were exposed to O3 or room air for 2 hrs and BAL was performed 6 hrs later. (A) Ozone exposed Balb/c mice had significantly reduced SP-D levels as compared to air exposed Balb/c or O3 exposed C57BL/6 mice. SP-D was detected by Western blot analysis of the cell-free supernatant of the BAL (top panel) and was performed using our in-house rabbit polyclonal anti-SP-D antibody. Two representative samples out of a total of six are shown in each group. SP-D expression was quantified by densitometric analysis. Results are expressed as % of naïve control levels. * p = 0.0249 vs. room air; p = 0.0027 vs. C57BL/6. (B) Balb/c mice had significantly higher numbers of inflammatory cells in their BAL as compared to C57BL/6 mice. Cells were counted using a Coulter counter and results are expressed as cell number/ml (*p = 0.0316). (C): The BAL total protein content was significantly higher in Balb/c mice compared to C57BL/6 mice. Total protein was measured by Bradford assay in the cell-free supernatant *p = 0.028. Absolute protein contents were 919,6 (± 51,4) and 3262,3 (± 281.0) in air and O3 exposed Balb/c mice, respectively, and 772 (± 26.4) and 2110 (± 36.4) in air and O3 exposed C57BL/6 mice, respectively.(D-G): Cytokine expression was studied by Endogen®SearchLight™ and Luminex®100™ technologies. O3 induced the release of IL-12p70 (34 pg/ml ± 4 in Balb/c, 18.7 pg/ml ± 1 in C57BL/6), IL-6 (2,393 pg/ml ± 119 in Balb/c, 412 pg/ml ± 68.7 in C57BL/6), IL-10 (110 pg/ml ± 16 in Balb/c, 14.2 pg/ml ± 1.6 in C57BL/6) and KC (1,896 pg/ml ± 224 in Balb/c, 136.8 pg/ml ± 27.7 in C57BL/6). Cytokine and chemokine levels are expressed as % increase from control levels. The O3- induced pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-12p70 and KC levels were significantly higher (*p = 0.0134 and *p = 0.0001, respectively) whereas the immunosuppressive IL-10 and the immunoregulatory IL-6 levels were significantly lower (*p < 0.0001 and *p < 0.0001, respectively) in Balb/c mice than in C57BL/6 mice. (A-G): Mean ± SEM of n = 6 in each groups.

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