Fig. 4.

L. major and L. tropica infections in mice are exacerbated by PSG and saliva from the experimental vector, Lu. Longipalpis (L. major: A, C and E; L. tropica: B, D and F). L. tropica and L. major PSG was obtained from infected Lu. longipalpis sand flies and saliva collected from uninfected flies. One thousand L. major metacyclic promastigotes or one million L. tropica metacyclic promastigotes were injected i.d. into the footpads or rumps of BALB/c mice without (open circles) or with 1 µg sterile PSG (closed squares) or with 1 µg sterile saliva (open triangles). (A and B) Proportion of mice presenting with cutaneous lesions over the course of study. (C and D) Lesion evolution showing average lesion thickness + s.e.m or total lesion size. (E and F) Final parasite burdens of lesions from tissue homogenates. Each point represents individual mice and bars represent the average value per group. Representative data is shown of duplicate experiments, n = 6 mice per group. *: P < 0.05; **: P < 0.005 by Mann Whitney unpaired two-tailed t-test.