Table 2. Effect of Virkon treatment on T. cruzi epimastigote viability in rat blood.
T. cruzi strain Silvio X10/7 subclone A1 infected rat blood, was treated for 1 h with a 10-fold (v/v) excess of 1% Virkon. Samples were pelleted and resuspended in the same volume of culture medium before 10-fold dilution into culture medium. Viable parasites were detected by microscopic examination for motile epimastigotes and scored qualitatively. Parasite positive samples are highlighted as a heat map.
| T. cruzi infected sample | Treatment | Day | Silvio X10/7 A1 Starting Density, cells ml-1 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 107 | 106 | 105 | 104 | 103 | 102 | 101 | |||
| Rat blood | PBS control | 8 | NV | ++ | +++ | ++ | + | - | - |
| 15 | ++ | ++++ | +++ | ++ | ++ | + | - | ||
| 20 | ++ | ++++ | ++++ | +++ | + | + | - | ||
| 25 | +++ | ++++ | ++++ | +++ | ++ | + | - | ||
| 32 | - | +++ | ++++ | ++++ | ++++ | - | - | ||
| Rat blood | Water | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 15 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 20 | +/- | + | + | + | - | - | - | ||
| 25 | ++ | ++ | ++ | + | - | - | - | ||
| 32 | - | - | + | + | - | - | - | ||
| Rat blood | 1% Virkon | 8 | NV | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 15 | NV | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 20 | NV | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 25 | NV | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 32 | NV | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
Only motile parasites scored as ‘+’
NV = Suspension too thick to detect motile parasites
- no motile parasites seen in ≥20 fields
+<1 per field (20 fields searched)
++ 1–5 per field
+++ >5 per field
++++ Numerous parasites with rosette formation