Figure 1.
Workflow of the animal experiment. (A) C57BL/6 mice in the treatment group were inoculated with 3 × 106 T. pallidum. Mice in the control group were injected with 300 μl phosphate-buffered saline. (B) Five to six C57BL/6 mice infected with T. pallidum were randomly sacrificed at various time intervals after infection, and their blood, heart, liver, spleen, kidney, testis, and brain tissues were collected for DNA extraction, pathological sectioning, and multiplex cytokine assays.