brasiliensis presented leukocytosis at days 20 and 60 after infection (Fig. 4A). On the 20th day of infection, lymphocytes and neutrophils were the predominant cells whereas on the subsequent days, although lymphocytes remained the major cell population, monocytes surpassed neutrophils (Fig. 4B). A peak of eosinophil numbers was detected on the 20th day,

progressively decaying thereafter. Figure 4 Leukocyte levels in the blood of Calomys callosus during infection with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. A – Each point represents the mean ± standard deviation of counts of total leukocytes in blood samples from 4 animals. B – Absolute numbers of neutrophils, lymphocytes, and monocytes. C – Absolute numbers of eosinophils. Effect of P. brasiliensis infection on glucose blood selleck kinase inhibitor levels of C. callosus Based on the observations that the pancreas was seriously compromised throughout infection, we questioned whether this fact could affect ICG-001 mw the serological glucose levels of C. callosus. As shown in Fig. 5, infected animals start to loose control of glucose levels after 60 days of infection, when serum levels drop as the infection progresses. Figure 5 Serum glucose

in Calomys callosus during infection with 1 × 10 6 yeast forms of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. Bars represent the mean and standard deviation of 4–5 animals per group. * Statistically different from controls, ANOVA, T test, p < 0.05. Effect of ovariectomy on P. brasiliensis infection of C. callosus It has been shown

that estrogen hormone is one of the P. brasilensis infection resistance mechanisms [19]. In order to understand the estrogen role in the C. callosus infection, infected ovariectomized animals were compared to sham-operated many animals. The infection progression in sham-operated animals developed similarly as in non-operated animals (Fig. 1 and data not shown). The lesions observed in ovariectomized animals showed that the infiltrate contained fewer inflammatory cells and that the parenchyma of the liver (Fig. 6A, C and 6E) and spleen (Fig. 6B and 6D) were damaged. The inflammatory lesions seen in the liver of ovariectomized animals were concentrated in the space of Dissé until the 45th day of infection (Fig. 6A and 6C). A fewer number of yeast debris were observed in ovariectomized infected animals compared to sham-operated infected animals, throughout the study (Fig. 6). At day 75, a diffuse mononuclear infiltration was observed in the liver although with very few intact parasites. As early as 15 days post infection, a neutrophil infiltrate was observed in the spleen (Fig. 6B) that was not seen later on infection (Fig. 6D). Figure 6 Histological analyses of female Calomys callosus infected i.p. with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis after bilateral ovariectomy. The tissue sections stained with haematoxylin-eosin were examined at a magnification of 200 X.