Tumor Necrosis Factor Is a Therapeutic Target for Immunological Unbalance and Cardiac Abnormalities in Chronic Experimental Chagas’ Heart Disease
Figure 1
Anti-TNF therapy reduces Trypanosoma cruzi-induced splenomegaly in experimental model of chronic Chagas’ heart disease. (a) C57BL/6 mice were infected with 100 bt of the Colombian T. cruzi strain and received saline or anti-TNF Infliximab 48-hour intervals from 120 (light blue arrow) to 150 days postinfection (dpi); noninfected mice received saline injections; all mice were analyzed at 150 (dark blue arrow) dpi. (b) Treatments were initiated at 120 dpi (blue arrow) and variation of body weight (g) was registered weekly. (c) Body weight (g), (d) relative heart weight (mg/g), and (e) relative spleen weight (mg/g) were analyzed at 150 dpi. and , T. cruzi-infected mice (saline injected or anti-TNF treated) compared to NI controls. ##, anti-TNF-treated compared to saline-injected T. cruzi-infected mice. Bar represents the mean ± SD of the studied group (9 to 15 mice). Representative data from three independent experiments are shown.
