Fig. 6.

Total brain levels of IFN-γ are correlated with the behavioural profile displayed by mice chronically infected with T. gondii. The levels of IFN-γ in the brain of infected mice were inversely correlated with the distance travelled, while directly correlated with the time spent in the periphery of the open field apparatus (A). The number of entries and the time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus maze were inversely correlated with the levels of IFN-γ in the brain of infected mice. (C) With the data obtained from the forced swim test, it was found that the time of immobility was directly correlated with the brain levels of IFN-γ in mice chronically infected with T. gondii. The correlation analysis was performed by the Pearson's coefficient of correlation, followed by linear regression with 95% confidence interval. Orange dots represent mice infected with ME49 clonal strain (N = 7), and purple dots represent mice infected with CK2 atypical strain (N = 7). Outlier values were removed after ROUT test for outlier identification. The results were considered statistically significant when p < 0.05. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)