Changes in the immune system in experimental acanthamoebiasis in immunocompetent and immunosuppressed hosts

Parasites & Vectors

Table 1 Spleen weight (g) of male mice in control and Acanthamoeba spp. infected groups after 8, 16 and 24 days post-infection (dpi)

Parameter/group		Group A (n = 10)	Group C (n = 6)	Group AS (n = 10)	Group CS (n = 6)	Kruskal-Wallis test
Total spleen weight	AM ± SD	0.06 ± 0.03^a	0.07 ± 0.008^a	0.08 ± 0.06^b	0.10 ± 0.01^b	H = 29.81, df = 2, P = 0.001
	Median	0.07	0.07	0.1	0.1
	Range	0.02–0.15	0.06–0.09	0.01–0.20	0.1–0.15
8 dpi	AM ± SD	0.05 ± 0.02^c	0.07 ± 0.01^c	0.11 ± 0.04	0.10 ± 0.02	H = 22.78, df = 3, P = 0.001
	Median	0.06	0.07	0.10	0.10
	Range	0.03– 0.07	0.06–0.08	0.1–0.2	0.1–0.15
16 dpi	AM ± SD	0.05 ± 0.02^d	0.07 ± 0.01^d	0.04 ± 0.06^e	0.10 ± 0.0^e	H = 15.36, df = 3, P = 0.01
	Median	0.06	0.07	0.01	0.10
	Range	0.02–0.07	0.06–0.08	0.01–0.20	0.10–0.10
24 dpi	AM ± SD	0.08 ± 0.03^f	0.08 ± 0.01	0.09 ± 0.03^f	0.10 ± 0.0	H = 13.79, df = 3, P = 0.01
	Median	0.08	0.08	0.10	0.10
	Range	0.05–0.15	0.07–0.09	0.01–0.10	0.10–0.10

^aP ≤ 0.03 for the significance of difference A vs C (Mann-Whitney U-test, U = 311),
^bP ≤ 0.04 for the significance of difference AS vs CS (Mann-Whitney U-test, U = 297)
^cP ≤ 0.05 for the significance of difference A vs C (Mann-Whitney U-test, U = 30)
^dP ≤ 0.02 for the significance of difference A vs C (Mann-Whitney U-test, U = 41)
^eP ≤ 0.02 for the significance of difference AS vs CS (Mann-Whitney U-test, U = 42.5)
^fP ≤ 0.02 for the significance of difference A vs AS (Mann-Whitney U-test, U = 72)
Abbreviations: Group A, immunocompetent infected group; Group C, immunocompetent control group; Group AS immunosuppressed infected group; Group CS, immunosuppressed non-infected group; AM, arithmetic mean; SD, standard deviation

ISSN: 1756-3305