Figure 4. Topical treatment with BC-DETC controls CL development.

Mice were infected with L. braziliensis and three weeks later BC-DETC (at 350 μg/cm²) was applied for three weeks (boxed area). Controls received empty BC. (A) Lesion development was measured weekly. Ear sections, obtained six weeks after infection, were analyzed by optical microscopy under 20X magnification. (B) Disease burden [shown as Area Under the Curves (AUC) depicted in (A)] in mice treated with BC-DETC or empty BC. Parasite load was determined at the infection site (C) and at the dLN (D), at six weeks, by limiting dilution analysis. Data are pooled from three independent experiments, each performed with four to six mice per group. **p < 0.01.