Fig. 1

Celecoxib treatment exacerbates Mtb aerosol infection. a Female CB6F1 mice of 5–8 weeks of age were infected with ~25–50 CFU Mtb Erdman by the aerosol route (week 4 (n = 4), week 6 (n = 6), week 12 (n = 8)). 4 weeks into the infection, mice were fed with normal chow or chow containing 500 ppm celecoxib. Mtb bacilli were enumerated by plating lung and spleen homogenates 2 and 8 weeks later (week 6 and 12 of the infection). b Animal weight was monitored at week 6 (n = 16) and week 12 (n = 8) to ensure that the observed differences were due to treatment effects and not because of weight-loss from altered feeding habits. c Two weeks after treatment (week 6 of the infection), the pulmonary influx of myeloid-derived cells was determined by staining lung cells for CD11b, CD11c, Ly-6C, Ly-6G, and MCHII. Neutrophils were defined as CD11b⁺/Ly-6C^dim/Ly-6G⁺, inflammatory monocytes as CD11b⁺/Ly-6C^high/Ly-6G⁻. Gating on Ly-6C⁻/Ly-6G⁻CD11b⁺ cells, macrophages/monocytes (Mø/Mo) were defined as CD11b⁺/MHCII⁺/CD11c⁻ and a mixed population of alveolar macrophages/dendritic cells (Alv. Mø/DCs) was defined as CD11b⁺/MHCII⁺/CD11c⁺. d Individual mice were analyzed for the number of neutrophils, inflammatory monocytes, macrophages and alveolar macrophages/dendritic cells in the lung 2 weeks into the treatment (n = 6). Bars represent mean ± SEM and p values were calculated with an unpaired two-tailed t-test comparing treated and non-treated animals