Fig. 3

Whey peptide suppressed the increase in total cell counts of BALF. In the control diet groups elastase instillation increased total cell and macrophage counts in the BALF. The increases were significantly suppressed by whey peptide, while these were not suppressed by standard enteral diet (a and b). In the control diet groups elastase instillation increased lymphocyte and neutrophil counts. The significant increases were similarly observed in the standard enteral diet group, while the increases were not proved in the whey peptide diet group (c and d). Results are expressed as mean ± standard deviation of mean and compared using Mann–Whitney U tests. The sham group consisted of phosphate buffered saline-instilled mice on a control diet