Soluble Collagen Expression in the infected lung.

<p>Amount of soluble collagens in the lungs of 4–6 weeks (A) und 19 months (B) old BALB/c mice after infection with RSV, HMPV or double infection: 4–6 weeks and 19 months old BALB/c mice were infected with 2×10⁷ geq RSV, or HMPV, or co-infected with 1×10⁷ geq of each virus. Untreated animals, animals anesthetized and treated with cell culture supernatant or PBS or only anesthetized served as controls. Mice were killed by cervical dislocation and the lungs were removed and homogenised. The amount of soluble collagens was determined by a collagen assay. Values were standardized referring to non treated controls (n = 3–5, values are shown as mean ± standard deviation). * significantly different to untreated animals (p<0.05).