FIGURE 4.

Hepatic granuloma area in mice fed with different experimental diets. Mice received different restricted diets: Control (Ctrl), Low protein 3 and 8% (LP 3% and LP 8%, respectively) and Low fat 2.5 and 5% (LF 2.5% and LF 5%, respectively). At 50 days post-infection, sections of liver from each mouse were obtained and slides were prepared and stained with hematoxyline-eosine. Approximately 100 granulomas containing a single well-defined egg at the exudative-productive stage were randomly selected and measured from the livers of mice from each experimental group. The total area of the granulomas was expressed in square micrometers (μm²) and represented as the median (A). Representative histological sections of liver granulomas from each experimental group (B). Frequencies of granulomas in Ctrl and LP 3% groups (C) and representative types of granulomas: E, exudative; EP, exudative-productive; P, productive (D). Percentage of S. mansoni eggs in different stages of development in the ileum: immature (first, second, third or fourth stages), mature and dead (E). Results are representative of two independent experiments (n = 10–12 mice per group). Significant differences were determined by Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparison test (A), Student’s t-tests (C) or Two-way ANOVA followed by Sidak’s multiple comparison test (E) (*p ≤ 0.05; ****p ≤ 0.0001). Scale bar = 100 μm (100x).