Host Susceptibility to Brucella abortus Infection Is More Pronounced in IFN-γ knockout than IL-12/β2-Microglobulin Double-Deficient Mice

Figure 1

Growth of B. abortus in spleens of C57BL/6, IFN-γ ^−/−, and IL-12/β2-m^−/− mice at the first (a) and third (b) week postinfection. IL-12/β2-m^−/−, IFN-γ ^−/−, and C57BL/6 mice were intraperitoneally inoculated with 10⁶ CFU of B. abortus S2308. (+) This symbol shows that all IFN-γ ^−/− mice died before the CFU count at the third week postinfection. Data are expressed as mean ± SD of five animals per time point. These results are representative of three independent experiments. Significant difference in relation to C57BL/6 for P < 0.05 is denoted by an asterisk and in relation to IL-12/β2-m^−/− by two asterisks.

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