Figure 1.

The effects of different treatment modalities on the prevalence and the severity of septic arthritis. (a) The prevalence and (b) the severity of septic arthritis in NMRI mice (n = 19–30) on days 3 and 10 following intravenous infection with S. aureus strain LS-1 were evaluated. To evaluate the severity of arthritis, a system of clinical scoring (arthritic index) was employed, where macroscopic inspection yielded a score of 0 to 3 points for each limb. The total index was calculated by adding the individual limb scores for each animal tested. Results are expressed as the mean ± SEM. CLOX, cloxacillin; PBN, phenyl-N-tert-butyl nitrone.