FIG. 3.

ALT activities of mice infected with sap mutants, the reference strain for animal experiments SC5314, and strain ATCC 10231 (open bars) and effect of treatment with pepstatin A (closed bars). Only in mice infected with the Δsap4-6 mutant was there a significantly (P < 0.05) reduced ALT activity in comparison to the reference strain SC5314. Treatment with pepstatin A reduced the ALT levels of all strains except the Δsap4-6 mutant; the extent of reduction was significant (P < 0.05) for strain SC5314, ATCC 10231, and the Δsap1 mutant (indicated by asterisks). Control levels of ALT were determined in uninfected mice treated with DMSO and pepstatin A (open and closed bars, respectively). Data are shown as means + standard deviations from five individual animals per group.