IL6 and otitis media: By day 7, there was no significant difference between median inflammatory mediator titers from the M. muris-pretreated (M. muris + IAV + NTHi) versus untreated NTHi otitis media group (IAV + NTHi), though titers were higher than those in naive mice or in mice administered M. muris or NTHi alone (P < 0.05 for IL-6, KC, and IL-1β) (Fig. 2A).