Figure 1.

VDD mice are more resistant to L. (L.) amazonensis infection. C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice normally fed (Ctrl) or on a Vitamin D-deficient diet (VDD) were subcutaneously infected in the footpad with 2 × 10⁵ L. (L.) amazonensis promastigotes and lesion development was followed weekly (A,B). On day 92 (C57BL/6) or 99 (BALB/c) post-infection, parasite loads in the infection site were evaluated by limiting dilution assay (C,D). The data (means ± SD; n = 5 ^***P < 0.0001; ^*P < 0.05) are representative of three independent experiments producing the same result profile.