Fig. 5

Evaluation of the disruption of La₂O₃ in lung. a The images of lung microbial communities. Animals were exposed to 2 mg/Kg La₂O₃ by oropharyngeal aspiration for 24 h (n = 5). Lung microbes were collected in BALF by centrifugation. The collected bacteria were subjected to confocal microscopy imaging after DAPI and Alex Flour 549 conjugated WGA staining. b The ratios of G⁺/G⁻. The percentage of G⁺ and G⁻ cells were calculated based on the confocal images. The ratios were presented as mean values ± SD from five mice. *p < 0.05 compared to control group by two-tailed Student’s t-test. c Pro-inflammatory cytokine production and neutrophil counts in BALF. Immune cells in BALF were concentrated on glass slides by cytospin, fixed and stained by Quick-Diff for cell counting. Pro-inflammatory cytokines were determined by ELISA. Cell counting and cytokine data are presented as mean values ± SD derived from five mice. **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 compared to controls by two-tailed Student’s t-test. d H&E staining images of lung tissues exposed to La₂O₃ with different concentrations of colistin. Mice exposed to saline or colistin were used as control groups. Scale bars represent 100 μm