<i>In vivo</i> leishmanicidal effect of EGCG in <i>L. braziliensis</i>-infected BALB/c mice.

<p>The right ears of the mice were infected intradermally with 2×10⁶<i>L. braziliensis</i> promastigotes. Panel A: Lesion development in the animals administered oral EGCG (100 mg/kg/day; closed square) or the control group orally administered sterile PBS (vehicle of EGCG; closed circle) once a day seven times a week. Arrow represents the initiation of treatment. Inset: Lesion development in animals that were administered oral EGCG (100 mg/kg/day; closed square) and the control groups, which were orally administered sterile PBS (vehicle; closed circle) or treated with intraperitoneal injections of meglumine antimoniate (30 mg/kg/day; open triangle) once a day seven times a week. The arrow represents the initiation of treatment. Panel B: Macroscopic evaluation of lesions (arrowhead) in untreated mice (left column), EGCG-treated mice (medium column), and meglumine antimoniate-treated mice (right column) at the end of the experiment (day 32). The arrowhead represents the lesion. Panel C: Parasite burden of <i>L. braziliensis</i>-infected BALB/c mice untreated or treated with EGCG (100 mg/kg/day) or meglumine antimoniate (30 mg/kg/day). Ear parasite loads were determined via a limiting dilution assay. Panels D–F: Toxicity parameters for the kidneys and liver. At the end of experiment, the mice were euthanized, and serum samples were collected for colorimetric determination of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (panel D), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (panel E), and creatinine (panel F) concentrations as parameters of liver and kidney toxicity. Data are expressed as the mean ± standard error, <i>n</i> = 5 ears. [*** indicates a significant differences relative to the control group (<i>p</i><0.001)]. (CTRL, control; antimonial, meglumine antimoniate).