Fig 3. Primary infection with female S. mansoni cercariae reduces granuloma size and hepatic fibrosis in bisexually challenged mice.

(A) Representative images of hematoxylin/eosin (HE) and Sirius Red (SR)-stained liver slices are shown (original magnification 100-fold): uninfected mice (naive), bisexual infected control (mf/mf), infected bisexual control (-/mf), primary infection with male cercariae (m/mf), primary infection with female cercariae (f/mf). Primary infection with female S. mansoni cercariae in group f/mf resulted in smaller peri-oval granulomas and reduced fibrotic peri-portal bridging compared to groups mf/mf, -/mf and m/mf. (B) This was quantitatively confirmed by morphometric analysis of granuloma diameter and Sirius Red stained areas. n.d., not detectable. p≤0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.