Effect of α–IL-17 antibody treatment on <i>B. pertussis</i> WT infection.

<p>(A–C) Fold increases in gene expression (relative to mock-infected mice) of KC (A), numbers of airway neutrophils (B), and bacterial loads in the respiratory tract (C) in control or α–IL-17 antibody-treated mice on day 4 post-infection with 5×10⁵ CFU of WT <i>B. pertussis</i>. Mice were treated with antibody intranasally on day 3 post-infection. (D) Bacterial loads in the respiratory tract of control or α–IL-17 antibody-treated mice on day 8 post-infection with 5×10⁵ CFU of WT <i>B. pertussis</i>. Mice were treated with antibody intranasally on days 3, 5 and 7 post-infection. (E) Bacterial loads in the respiratory tract of control or α–IL-17 antibody-treated mice on days 14 and 21 post-infection with 5×10⁵ CFU of WT <i>B. pertussis</i>. Mice were treated with antibody intranasally on days 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 post-infection. *Significantly different from control mice (P<0.05).