Fig. 3.

Effect of lopinavir on the lipid composition of Leishmania amazonensis promastigotes. (A) Leishmania amazonensis promastigotes were incubated in the absence (C – control) or presence of varying concentrations of lopinavir (L7.5, L15 and L30 µm) and (B) miconazole (M2 and M4 µm) alone or in combination (M2 + L15 µm or M4 + L15 µm) for 72 h. Neutral lipids were extracted as described and subjected to thin-layer chromatography (TLC). The TLC image is representative of three independent experiments. Lipid standards used were: ergosterol (ERG), diacylglycerol (DG), cholesterol (CHO), lanosterol (LAN), triacylglycerol (TG) and cholesteryl palmitate (CHOE). The sterol content of parasites treated with lopinavir (C), miconazole alone or miconazole plus lopinavir (D) was estimated by densitometry of the TLC using Image Master Total Lab v1.11 software (AU – arbitrary units). The plotted data are mean standard error of three independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.