Importantly, the differences in cytokine concentrations were not secondary to an intrinsically deficient cytokine production in the organs of the LDLR−/− mice: the amounts of TNF and IL-1β mRNA in the spleens of LDLR+/+ and LDLR−/− mice on day 1 of infection was similar (Fig. 4B). Here, LDLR is linked to infection.