Immunodeficient mice are protected from BLM/PF

<p> <i>rag-1^−/−</i> (C57/Bl6) mice that are devoid of T and B cells were injected with BLM and sacrificed 23 days later for disease evaluation. Lack of lymphocytes resulted in failure of disease induction as assessed with (A) representative H/E staining (4×), (B) total inflammatory cell counts in BALF, expressed as a percentage over the corresponding saline injections, (C) soluble collagen determination in lung extracts, expressed as a percentage of the corresponding saline injections. Bars represent the mean values ±SD. Statistically significant differences are indicated by the corresponding t-test p values.