Table 3.
Number and percentage of organs presenting tissue parasitism and inflammation in mice inoculated with strains of Trypanosoma cruzi I, II, and IV treated with benznidazole (TBZ) during acute phase and untreated controls (NT), at different stages of infection
| Parameter | Stage of infection | Total | TcI | TcII | TcIV | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NT (N = 432) | TBZ (N = 432) | NT (N = 144) | TBZ (N = 144) | NT (N = 96) | TBZ (N = 96) | NT (N = 192) | TBZ (N = 192) | ||
| Tissue parasitism | eAP* | 12 (2.7)§¶ | 2 (0.5) | 3 (2.1)§¶ | 0 (0.0) | 9 (9.4)§¶ | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (1.0) |
| lAP† | 9 (2.1)§∥ | 0 (0.0) | 3 (2.1)§∥ | 0 (0.0) | 6 (6.3)§∥ | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| CP‡ | 1 (0.2) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (1.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Inflammatory process | eAP | 183 (42.4)§** | 84 (19.5) | 60 (41.7)§** | 43 (29.9) | 40 (41.7)§ | 7 (7.3)¶ | 83 (43.2)§¶ | 34 (17.8) |
| lAP | 238 (55.1)§∥ | 67 (15.5)∥ | 85 (59.0)§∥ | 29 (20.1) | 52 (54.2)§ | 7 (7.3)∥ | 101 (52.6)§∥ | 31 (16.2) | |
| CP | 157 (36.4)§ | 103 (23.8) | 61 (42.4)§∥ | 42 (29.2) | 40 (41.7)§ | 26 (27.1) | 56 (29.2)§ | 35 (18.2) | |
n = total number of organs assessed by group and phase of infection.
*
Early acute phase;
†
Late acute phase;
‡
Chronic phase.
The χ2 was used in comparing the parameters between experimental groups (NT × TBZ) and between phases of infection (eAP × lAP, eAP × CP, and lAP × CP) with a significant value of P < 0.05;
§
Significant differences between groups NT and TBZ,
¶
eAP and CP,
∥
lAP and CP and
**
eAP and lAP.