Nlrp3^-/- mice are less susceptible to lethal pulmonary Ft infection.

<p>(A) Survival of mice following lethal Ft LVS (1000 cfu) infection (% survival of three independent experiments, n = 18 mice, Log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test, ***p<0.001) and lung bacterial burden (mean ± SD of three independent experiments, n = 9 mice, Student’s t-test, *p<0.05). (B) Histological section of lung from wildtype mice infected with Ft LVS shows inflammatory foci and massive necrosis (‘necrotizing inflammation’) at 6 dpi, while these pathological changes were less extensive in lung section of Nlrp3^-/- mice (HE, 400x). (C) Survival of mice following Ft SchuS4 (10 cfu) infection (% survival of three independent experiments, n = 15 mice, Log-rank test, *p<0.05) and lung bacterial burden (mean ± SD of two independent experiments, n = 6, Student’s t-test, *p<0.05). (D) Survival of mice following lethal <i>F</i>. <i>novicida</i> (20 cfu) infection (% survival of two independent experiments, n = 12 mice, Log-rank test, *p<0.05) and lung bacterial burden (mean ± SD, n = 5 mice, Student’s t-test, *p<0.05).