Figure 1.

The infection profile of L. major in apoE KO and C57BL/6 animals infected with 1 × 10⁶ parasites (clone WHO MHOM/IL/80/Friedlin) into left footpad. (a to d) Cytokine (IL-4, IL-10, TNF-α, and IL-6) mRNA transcripts in the popliteal lymph nodes of apoE KO control, apoE KO L. major-infected, and C57BL/6 L. major-infected (n = 4/group) mice at the 6th experimental week. Values of average and standard error of cytokine mRNA transcripts in C57BL infected, apoE KO control, and apoE KO infected were, respectively, IL-4 = 0.89 ± 0.20; 1.72 ± 0.46 and 3.01 ± 1.6; IL-10 = 1.2 ± 0.12; 1.28 ± 0.24 and 2.81 ± 0.7; IFNγ = 1.20 + 0.82; 2.53 ± 0.63 and 3.52 + 1.7; IL-6 = 0.78 ± 0.80; 1.65 ± 0.63 and 2.4 ± 1.3. (e) The infection curve of apoE KO and C57BL/6 L. major infected mice. The results are expressed as the average of the footpad swelling calculated by the difference between the measures of the infected (left) and control (right) footpads. Number of mice: n = 11 in apoE KO and n = 7 in C57BL/6 groups for each week. (f) Footpad parasite quantification from apoE KO and C57BL/6 mice infected with L. major 6 weeks after infection. The results are expressed as the average of the log of the total parasites from apoE KO (n = 11) and C57BL/6 (n = 7) mice. Bars = average and vertical lines = standard error. *P < 0.05.