Lactoferrin Augmentation of the BCG Vaccine Leads to Increased Pulmonary Integrity

Figure 2

Reduced bacterial loads in BCG-immunized mice after infectious challenge with MTB. C57BL/6 mice were immunized with BCG (1 × 10⁶ CFU/mouse; Pasteur strain TMC 1011, ATCC, Manassas, VA) or BCG/bovine lactoferrin (10 or 100 μg/mouse) and boosted at 8 weeks. One group remained nonimmunized. At 12 weeks postboost, mice were aerosol infected with a low dose (approximately 100 CFU/mouse) Erdman MTB (TMC 107, ATCC) and monitored through day 65 postinfection for organ bacterial load. All vaccinated mice were able to reduce bacterial load in tissue following infectious challenge. Minimum number of animals per group was 6 for controls and 10 for immunized mice. *𝑃<.05; ***𝑃<.001.

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