Figure 7
From: Lung inflammation following a single exposure to swine barn air
Expression and quantification of TGF-β2: Quantification of cells stained with TGF-β2 antibody showed increased numbers of positive cells in rats exposed to barn and challenged with saline at 48 hours post-exposure compared to saline treated unexposed controls (*, P < 0.05, Figure 7A). Within unexposed rats, LPS challenged rats contained more cells positive for TGF-β2 compared to saline challenged ones (*, P = 0.044, Figure 7A). ELISA showed higher concentration of TGF-β2 in the lung homogenates of saline-treated exposed or unexposed rats compared to the E. coli LPS-treated exposed or unexposed rats (*, P < 0.05, Figure 7B). Immuno-gold electron microscopy localized TGF-β2 in the cytoplasm and nucleus of pulmonary intravascular monocytes/macrophages (Figure 7C, arrows and inset) as well as in the lung endothelium and epithelium (Figure 7C, arrowheads).