RAGE^–/– mice display normal inflammation in a model of DTH, and application of sRAGE blocks inflammation in DTH in WT and RAGE^–/– mice. Age- and sex-matched WT and RAGE^–/– mice were sensitized with mBSA. WT indicates C57BL/6 ∞ 129/Sv mice. Control groups were challenged with ovalbumin (OVA), and DTH groups, with mBSA. Mouse groups receiving sRAGE were pretreated by intraperitoneal injection of solvent or sRAGE 24 and 12 hours prior to and 6 and 12 hours after local challenge with mBSA. The DTH experiment was repeated three times and the DTH with sRAGE treatment was repeated two times with similar results (A). The mean clinical inflammation score represents a summary of two independent experiments. Twenty-four hours after footpad injection, mice were subjected to clinical scoring (see Methods). Standard error is given (± SEM), and P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant (*). WT, gray bars; RAGE^–/–, white bars. (B) Representative pictures of hematoxylin and eosin–stained footpad sections of experimental groups; magnification, ∞400.