Fig. 2

Early response to influenza in the lungs of spinal cord injured mice is not altered. a Expression of proinflammatory cytokines (CCL2, CXCL10, CCL4) and antiviral genes (IFNβ and IRF9) was examined in the lungs of chronic SCI and uninjured control mice prior to infection (d0) and 2- and 4-day post-infection using quantitative real-time PCR. Data are expressed as percent of uninjured control at d0 (mean ± SEM, 4 mice/group). In addition, we assessed the levels of virus using qPCR for the matrix 1 (M1) influenza gene at d2 and d4 post-infection. Data represents mean ± SEM (4 mice/group). b Innate immune response in the lungs of both CT and chronic SCI H3N2-infected mice was assessed by flow cytometry using the differential expression of markers F4/80, CD11b, CD11c, and Gr1 according to Hall et al. [22]. Bars represent the mean ± SEM (4 mice/group)