Figure 6. Effect of Memantine on the intracellular cycle of Trypanosoma cruzi.

Panel A: viability of CHO-K₁ cells treated with different concentrations of Memantine (range 50 µM to 1 mM). Viability was assessed by MTT assay. Panel B: effect on the infectivity of trypomastigotes treated only during the period of infection (50–400 µM). Panel C: effect of treatment after invasion of parasites in CHO-K₁ cells (5–300 µM). Panel D: effect of Memantine on intracellular stages. Cells were treated at different stages with 31 µM Memantine (IC₅₀ value): T (trypomastigote cell invasion), A (amastigote) and IE (intracellular epimastigote-like) stages. In all experiments, we evaluated the burst of trypomastigotes on the fifth day post-infection by counting parasites in a Neubauer chamber. Tukey test: *: p<0.05; **: p<0.01; ***: p<0.001.