LPS-induced inflammatory environment. (A) Cytokine profile as measured by ELISA of pooled sera from 5 mice. Sera from control C3H/HeN (□), LPS-treated C3H/HeN (■), and C3H/HeJ mice (■) were taken 2 days after the third LPS injection. A representative experiment is presented of 2 performed. (B) The weight of spleens from control and LPS-treated (1 to 3 treatments) mice was evaluated 2 weeks after the first injection. A summary of the results is presented as the mean value of 3 independent experiments, and standard deviations are shown. *P < .01 (Student t test). (C) Images of spleens after 3 LPS treatments were acquired using a Nikon COOLPIX 4300 digital camera (Nikon, Tokyo, Japan). A splenomegaly was observed in LPS-treated C3H/HeN mice relative to LPS-treated C3H/HeJ or control mice. (D) Paraffin-embedded sections from spleen of control (I) and LPS-treated (II) mice were stained with hematoxylin and eosin.