Effect of Prophylactic Vaccination with the Membrane-Bound Acid Phosphatase Gene of Leishmania mexicana in the Murine Model of Localized Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Figure 5

Histopathological analysis of the footpad of mice immunized with pVAX1::LmxMBA and challenged with promastigotes of L. mexicana. Tissues were collected 105 days after infection, and the sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Vacuolated macrophages containing amastigotes were abundant in footpad lesions of mice immunized with PBS (b), as compared with mice immunized with the empty vector, pVAX1 (a); the dermis of control animals showed a massive infiltration with parasitized macrophages (arrows). In contrast, mice immunized with pVAX1::LmxMBA displayed more preserved skin with lymphocytes and macrophages containing few or no parasites (c). Microarchitecture of the dermis in mice immunized with pVAX1::LmxMBA was globally preserved in a similar manner to the healthy footpad (d).

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