Figure 1.

The absence of Dectin-1 protects mice against Neospora caninum infection. Wild-type (WT) and Dectin-1^−/− mice were infected with N. caninum (DL100, 1 × 10⁷ tachyzoites/mice) for survival analysis and non-lethal dose (1 × 10⁶ tachyzoites/mice) for acute and chronic parasitism determination. (A) Survival curves (10 mice/group). Differences in survival rates between groups were compared using Kaplan–Meier survival analysis, through a long-rank Mantel–Cox test. (B) Acute parasitism in peritoneal cells on the third day after infection with CFSE-stained tachyzoites, determined by flow cytometry (6 mice/group). (C) Brain parasite load after 30 days of infection (6 mice/group), analyzed by real-time PCR. Results are representative of three independent experiments and expressed as mean ± SEM. *Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05).