Fig. 5

CD3⁺CD4⁺ T cells promoted but CD3⁺CD8⁺ T cells inhibited IL-17A over-production during RSV infection. CD3⁺CD4⁺IL-17⁺ T cells (A) and CD3⁺CD8⁺ IL-17⁺ T cells (B) in the lung tissue were analyzed with flow cytometry on day 21 post RSV challenge. To further identify the sources of IL-17A, mice were treated with anti-CD4 or anti-CD8a antibodies on days 14, 17, and 20. IL-17A levels were assessed on day 21 (C). CD3⁺CD4⁺ T cells were detected after the depletion of CD3⁺CD8⁺ T cells (D). Graphs are represented as the mean±sem. Data are representative of two independent experiments performed on 6 animals per group. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 shown comparing the control group with the RSV group; ^^P < 0.01 shown comparing the RSV group with the RSV + anti-CD4 group; ^##P < 0.01, ^###P < 0.001 shown comparing the RSV group with the RSV + anti-CD8 group