Figure 3

Ex vivo cytokine production by spleen cells from mice immunized with Neospora lysate antigen (NLA) associated with Synadenium carinatum latex lectin (ScLL). As controls, mice were inoculated with NLA alone (antigen control), ScLL alone (lectin control) or PBS (infection control). Spleen was collected from three mice per group at 45 days after immunization and cells were cultured in the presence of mitogen (Concanavalin A [ConA] 2.5 μg/mL), antigen (NLA, 10 μg/mL) or medium alone. Cell-free supernatants were collected after 48 h and analyzed for detection of IFN-γ (A) and IL-10 (B) by ELISAs. The IFN-γ/IL-10 ratio was calculated only for NLA stimulation (C). Values are indicated as mean ± SEM of cytokine levels in relation to baseline (medium) and the dashed line represents the baseline. ^a-d Different letters indicate statistically significant differences for each time point analyzed (ANOVA and Bonferroni multiple comparison post-test; P < 0.05).