FIG 1.

Experimental design. BALB/c mice were treated daily with 25 mg/kg benznidazole (BZ), aspirin (ASA), or a combination of BZ and ASA by oral gavage at 2 days postinfection for 30 days. The antagonist Boc-2 (10 μM/kg) was intraperitoneally injected from 1 day postinfection every 48 h for 7 days before ASA treatment. Parasitemia during the acute phase was monitored by counting blood-borne trypomastigotes. Survival was observed daily, until the end of the experiment. Cardiovascular parameters (heart rate [HR] and mean arterial pressures [MAP]) were measured using CODA (a mouse tail cuff blood pressure system) between 171 and 180 days postinfection. At 180 days postinfection, nitrite levels in the plasma and cardiac tissue were quantified. All blood analyses and cell counts were performed using standard methods. Parasite loads in the hearts of treated and untreated mice were quantified by RT-qPCR.