Fig 5. Cathelicidin (LL-37) protects hamsters from lethal Leptospira infection.

(A) Survival in hamsters pre-treated with 1 mg/kg of cathelicidin (LL-37) (n = 7) was significantly greater than LL-37 scrambled peptide (Scrambled) (n = 7) (P = 0.016) or ddH₂O-treated controls (ddH₂O) (n = 7) (P = 0.008) following lethal challenge with 100 Leptospira. (B) Bacterial loads (Leptospira genome equivalents per mL of whole blood) in 7 infected hamsters were significantly lower at 4 (P = 0.035; P = 0.146), 6 (P = 0.003; P = 0.001), and 8 days (P = 0.003; P = 0.001) post-infection in LL-37-treated hamsters relative to 7 scrambled peptide (black) or ddH₂O-treated controls (red), respectively. Shown are medians ± IQR. An * signifies a P-value ≤0.05; ** signifies P<0.01 as determined by Mantel Cox test for (A) or Mann-Whitney test for (B).