FIG 1.

T. cruzi DNA in cardiac tissue from C57BL/6 mice infected with T. cruzi Y strain. The animals were treated with benznidazole (B) at 100, 50, 25, or 5 mg/kg alone or combined with suramin (S; 20 mg/kg) for a period of 15 days after confirmation of the infection (4 days after inoculation). INF, infected without treatment. Results for noninfected controls (NI) were suppressed in this figure since anti-T. cruzi immunoglobulins were not detected. T. cruzi DNA was determined by qPCR in cardiac samples collected 24 h after the last treatment. All animals that survived were investigated (NI, n = 10; INF, n = 6; B100, n = 10; S20, n = 4; B100 + S20, n = 10; B50 + S20, n = 8; B25 + S20, n = 6; B5 + S20, n = 5). The box represents the interquartile interval with the median indicated (horizontal line), and the whiskers represent the superior and inferior quartiles. Data are representative of the second experimental replicate from two independent studies with similar results. Different letters (a to f) denote a statistically significant difference among the groups (P < 0.05), and groups with a common letter are not statistically significantly different (P > 0.05).