Figure 4.

In vivo antileishmanial effects of isobenzofuranone derivatives on Leishmania donovani infected BALB/c mouse model of visceral leishmaniasis. Animals were sacrificed and liver (A) and splenic (B) parasite load was determined by stamp-smear method and expressed as LDU for all groups. Untreated, infected mice were used as controls. Data are presented as mean ± SEM (n = 5 animal per group). Splenocytes isolated from different group of mice were plated aseptically and incubated with 25 μg mL⁻¹ SLA for 48 h. IL-12 and TNF-α in supernatants of splenocyte cultures were assayed by ELISA (C). IL-10 in supernatants of splenocyte cultures were assayed by ELISA (D). Values represent the mean ± SD. (3–5 mice/group) *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001 (Student’s t-test as compared to different JVPH3 and JVPH4 treatment groups with infection control). ns indicates that differences are not significant.