Figure 1. Immunization with heat-killed T. cruzi causes acute cardiac damage but not myocarditis.
A/J mice were infected with T. cruzi, immunized with heat-killed T. cruzi epimatigotes (HKTC), T. cruzi tissue-culture trypomastigotes (HKTCtct) T. cruzi cultured metacyclic trypomastigotes (HKTCcmt) or injected with PBS. (A) One representative image from each group at 21 d.p.i. is shown. (B) The mean histopathology score for inflammation is indicated. For 7, 14, and 21 d.p.i., n = 10 for all groups; for 28 d.p.i. n = 5 for HKTC-immunized, heat-killed L. amazonensis (HKLA)-immunized, and PBS-immunized groups. (C) The mean serum cTnI level is indicated, n = 4 for T. cruzi-infected and PBS-immunized groups; n = 6 for the HKTC-immunized group. (B and C) Error bars indicate SEM. * P<0.05 compared to the PBS control group. † T. cruzi-infected mice were not analyzed at this time point because they do not survive past 25 d.p.i.