Figure 1.

In vitro infection of (A) L. (L.) infantum LD strain and (B) the ME clinical isolate. BMDMs were infected with stationary-phase promastigotes at 37 °C and 5% CO₂ on coverslips in 24-well plates. After 3 h, the wells were washed to remove non-internalized parasites, and the plate was incubated further under the same conditions. After 72 h, infected macrophages were fixed in methanol (Sigma-Aldrich), stained by the Panoptic hematological method (Laborclin, Brazil), then visualized on a light microscope. Bar: 10 μm.