Antibody response in infected hamsters.

<p>Hamster immunoglobulin responses to heat-killed leptospires were measured by ELISA. Mean and standard errors are shown for serum samples (tested in triplicate at a dilution of 1∶6400) obtained from hamsters challenged intradermally (red) or subcutaneously (blue). Dotted gray line represents two standard deviations above background ELISA for sera from six uninfected control hamsters. Vertical dashed line indicates the point at which animals began to meet endpoint criteria. The number of asterisks indicate the level of significance compared to the control group (*P≤0.05, ***P≤0.001). Leptospiral antibody levels after intradermal challenge were significantly higher than after subcutaneous challenge on day 8 (P<0.05).