Table 2.

Parasite load by means of Leishmania-specific IHC and qPCR on paired skin samples from the dogs studied based on disease stage

Skin samples	IHCa (mean ± SD)	qPCRg (mean ± SD)
Normal-looking skin (n = 25)	0.4 ± 0.8b	3.0 ± 4.7h
Stage I (n = 11)	0.1 ± 0.3c,d	6.1 ± 4.0i,j
Stage II-III (n = 14)	0.5 ± 0.7d,e	1.7 ± 4.5j,k
Clinically-lesioned skin (n = 25)	1.5 ± 0.9b	1.5 ± 4.9h
Stage I (n = 11)	1.1 ± 0.8c,f	3.4 ± 4.4i,l
Stage II-III (n = 14)	1.7 ± 0.9e,f	-0.4 ± 4.7k,l

Abbreviations: qPCR, quantitative PCR IHC Leishmania immunohistochemistry, SD standard deviation

^aFor method of grading, see Methods

^bWilcoxon Signed-rank test: Z = -4.345, P < 0.0001

^cWilcoxon Signed-rank test: Z = -2.887, P = 0.004

^dMann-Whitney U-test: Z = -2.169, P = 0.03

^eWilcoxon Signed-rank test: Z = -3.274, P = 0.001

^fMann-Whitney U-test: Z = -1.943, P = 0.052

^gDelta CT (difference of expression between Leishmania CT -18S CT)

^hWilcoxon Signed-rank test: Z = -3.332, P = 0.001

ⁱWilcoxon Signed-rank test: Z = -2.023, P = 0.043

^jMann-Whitney U-test: Z = -2.021, P = 0.043

^kWilcoxon Signed-rank test: Z = -2.691, P = 0.007

^lMann-Whitney U-test: Z = -2.026, P = 0.043