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Following an inquiry at Duke University, we were informed that FlexiVent data provided to us by the animal pulmonary physiology laboratory at Duke may have been unreliable. We therefore repeated the experiments described in Fig. 5C of the published article and were unable to replicate the airway hyperresponsiveness findings. Therefore, we also have concerns about the integrity of the data published in Figs. 1C, 2C, and 4C. We hereby retract Figs. 1C, 2C, 4C, and 5C from the published article. The other data presented in the article are not affected by the unreliable FlexiVent data and retraction of the FlexiVent data described in Figs. 1C, 2C, 4C, and 5C does not impact the overall conclusions of the published article.
Retraction of Figs. 1C, 2C, 4C, and 5C means that the following changes need to be made to the text of the published article:
In the abstract, the words “… and increased airway hyperresponsiveness… ” need to be omitted.
In the legend to Fig. 1C, the sentence “One part per million and 2 ppm of ozone did not produce different level of AHR” should be removed.
In the legend to Fig. 2C, the sentence “AHR was significantly augmented in the coexposed group when compared with the single exposed groups” should be removed.
In the Results section, under the subheading “Ozone exposure enhances pulmonary response to inhaled low-dose LPS,” the words “… AHR at highest dose of methacholine challenge (Fig. 2C) and the… ” should be removed.
In the Results section, under the subheading “HA blockade attenuates ozone priming of innate immunity,” the words “… inflammatory cell recruitment, AHR, and… ” as well as the next instance of “… AHR and… ” should be removed.
In the Results section, under the subheading “HA is sufficient to prime pulmonary immune response to LPS,” the words “… and AHR… ” should be removed.
In the legend to Fig. 4C, the following sentence needs to be deleted: “Enhanced AHR was completely blocked by HABP pretreatment.”
In the legend to Fig. 5C, the following sentence needs to be deleted: “HA-LPS coexposed group demonstrated increased airway reactivity to 100 mg/ml methacholine challenge compared with LPS-exposed group.”
In the first paragraph of the Discussion, the following sentence needs to be deleted: “We now recognize that ozone-induced fragmentation of HA contributes to AHR and the release of proinflammatory cytokines (7, 14).”
In the last paragraph of the Discussion, the following needs to be deleted: “… AHR… ”
