FIGURE 5.

Kinetics of cytokine levels in the serum of mice infected with P. yoelii (Py), L. braziliensis (Lb), L. amazonensis (La) or co-infection with Leishmania sp. and P. yoelii. Serum levels of IFN, TNF, IL-6, and IL-10 were determined by Cytokine Bead Array. Cytokine levels obtained in the serum of non-infected controls (open bars) were compared to those obtained in Py single-infected mice (black bars) and in animals co-infected (checkered bars) or single infected (gray bars) with L. braziliensis (A) or L. amazonensis promastigotes (B). Results are expressed by the mean ± SEM of 4–6 mice per group. The Mann–Whitney test was used to compare serum cytokine levels between groups. ^∗p < 0.05 and ^∗∗p < 0.01, respectively.