The effect of iron dextran, deferroxamine and lactoferrin on <i>A. fumigatus</i> corneal infection.

<p><b>A.</b> Serum iron levels 24 h after corneal infection. C57BL/6 mice were pre-treated at day -2, and day-1 with I.P. injections of iron-dextran (Fe-Dextran) or deferroxamine (Defox), and serum iron levels were measured by spectrophotometry (data are mean +/− SD of 5 mice per group). <b>B.</b> Fungal growth (dsRed <i>A. fumigatus</i>) and corneal opacity in mice given Fe-Dextran or Defox. <b>C.</b> Metamorph image analyses of dsRed fluorescence. <b>D.</b> Colony forming units (CFU) per eye at 4 h and 48 h post-infection <b>E,F.</b> Metamorph image analyses of percent (<b>E</b>) and total (<b>F</b>) corneal opacification. <b>G–I:</b> Effect of lactoferrin on fungal growth. C57BL/6 mice were infected with <i>A. fumigatus</i> dsRed conidia, and given topical lactoferrin (10.4 µg) at 0 and 6 h post-infection. Corneas were examined after 24 h. <b>G:</b> representative images; <b>H.</b> image analysis of dsRed expression, and <b>I.</b> CFU per eye. Panels B and G show representative images, and data points in panels C–F, H, I represent individual corneas. All panels show representative data from one experiment except for panels D and I which show pooled data from repeat experiments. These experiments were repeated three times with similar results.