Colonic pro-inflammatory mediator responses following <i>A</i>. <i>butzleri</i> infection of gnotobiotic IL-10^-/- mice.

<p>Gnotobiotic IL-10^−/− mice were generated by antibiotic treatment and perorally infected either with <i>A</i>. <i>butzleri</i> strain CCUG 30485 (circles) or strain C1 (squares). Uninfected (naive) gnotobiotic IL-10^−/− mice served as negative controls (black diamonds). Concentrations of <b>(A)</b> TNF, <b>(B)</b> IFN-γ, <b>(C)</b> nitric oxide (NO), <b>(D)</b> IL-6, <b>(E)</b> IL-12p70 and <b>(F)</b> MCP-1 were determined in supernatans of <i>ex vivo</i> colonic biopsies at day six p.i. (filled symbols) and day 16 p.i. (open symbols). Numbers of analyzed animals are given in parentheses. Medians (black bars) and significance levels as determined by the Mann-Whitney U test are indicated. Data were pooled from three independent experiments (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0139402#pone.0139402.s004" target="_blank">S4 Table</a>).