Fig. 3

Effect of sensory nerve dysfunction caused by in vivo capsaicin treatment on the anti-IAV activity of SLIGRL-amide in mice. a Protocol for capsaicin-induced dysfunction of sensory nerves. On 3 consecutive days, groups of mice were anaesthetised and injected subcutaneously with capsaicin or vehicle (Sham). Ten days later, mice were anaesthetised and intranasally inoculated with IAV in the presence or absence of SLIGRL-amide. A further four days later, BAL was performed on each euthanased mouse and the total numbers of leukocytes recovered was determined. b & c Isometric tension recordings performed on day 13 show that capsaicin pretreatment (using the protocol in a) abolishes the characteristic relaxant response to capsaicin (10 μM), indicative of sensory nerve dysfunction. d & e Total BAL leukocyte numbers recovered from IAV-inoculated mice that had been sham-pretreated (d) or pretreated with capsaicin to induce sensory nerve dysfunction. Shown are mean ± s.e.mean of 3–7 mice per group. *, indicates P <0.05, compared to respective IAV + saline control (one-way ANOVA)