Fig. 5

Infection of WT BALB/c mice with UV-inactivated MCMV does not elicit an HLH-like syndrome. UV = 5 x 10³ PFU of UV-inactivated MCMV, UV x 2 = 10⁴ PFU of UV-inactivated MCMV, administered every other day. a Percentage change in body weight relative to initial body weight at day 0 post infection (p.i.). Median with interquartile range of 5 mice per experimental group. b Rectal body temperature (°C) on day 2 (left panel) and on day 5 p.i. (right panel). Dotted line = 38.5°C (fever) or 34.5°C (endpoint as an indication of mortality). Dots represent individual animals. c Plasma concentration of the ferritin heavy chain (ng/ml) on day 5 p.i.. Dots represent the average of two dilutions for one single mouse. Dotted line represents the lower ELISA detection limit. b-c Horizontal bars refer to median group values. NI = not infected, PFU = plaque-forming units, temp. = temperature. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; Kruskal-Wallis with Dunn’s post-test. Depicted data are from one experiment.