Plasmid DNA immunization with Trypanosoma cruzi genes induces cardiac and clinical protection against Chagas disease in the canine model

Table 2 Lymph node palpation scores from DNA-immunized dogs with experimental T. cruzi infection

Group	Dog	Lymph node inflammation (score)¹ and percentage of dogs from each group with lymphadenomegaly
Group	Dog	Basal t1	%	Postimmunization t2	%	Acute stage t3	%
pBCSP	1	0	0	0	50	0	67
	2	0		0		0
	3	0		0		1
	4	0		2		1
	5	0		1		1
	6	0		1		2
pBCSSP4	1	0	0	0	50	1	100*
	2	0		1		2
	3	0		2		1
	4	0		1		1
	5	0		0		2
	6	0		0		2
pBK-CMV	1	0	0	0	17	0	83*
	2	0		0		1
	3	0		0		1
	4	0		0		2
	5	0		1		1
	6	0		0		1
SS mock-immunized	1	0	0	0	0	1	100*
	2	0		0		1
	3	0		0		1
	4	0		0		1
	5	0		0		1
	6	0		0		1

¹The severity of inflammation in lymph nodes was scored on a scale from 0 to 2. A score of 0 indicated normal; 1, slightly swollen; and 2, very enlarged (scores of 1 and 2 were considered to be indicative of lymphadenomegaly). baseline = t₁, prior to the start of the immunization, Postimmunization = t_2, before the infection at 15 days post-immunization, and Acute stage = t₃, at 30 days post-infection. Popliteal, submaxillary, axillary and inguinal lymph nodes were palpated and means were compared with the Kruskal-Wallis test. Differences were considered as significant when P ≤ 0.05.

ISSN: 1297-9716