TABLE 1.

Parasitological study on day 140 after infection of BALB/c mice treated during the acute phase of the infection

Treatment	Time of treatment (days postinfection)	Parasite DNA in blooda	Inflammationb	Amastigote nestsc	Parasite DNA in heart tissued	Live parasites isolated from hearte
pcDNA3-TSA1	5	0/3	+	− to +	3/3	1/3
	10	0/4	++	− to +	4/4	3/4
pcDNA3-Tc24	5	0/3	+	−	1/3	0/3
pcDNA3f	5	NDg	+++	+ to +++	ND	ND
Salinef	5	ND	+++	+ to +++	ND	ND

^aNumber of mice with blood positive for T. cruzi as determined by PCR/number of mice analyzed.

^b+, mild; ++, moderate; +++, severe.

^cHistological detection of amastigote nests in heart tissue sections. −, undetectable; +, rare; ++, scattered; +++, abundant.

^dNumber of mice with T. cruzi kDNA in heart tissue as determined by PCR/number of mice analyzed (χ² = 6.19; P = 0.04).

^eNumber of mice from which live T. cruzi parasites were isolated from heart tissue/number of mice analyzed (χ² = 5.14; P = 0.07).

^fTissues were obtained from the mice on day 45 postinfection.

^gND, not done.