2.4.1. Mouse infection and treatment
Infection was carried out by intraperitoneal inoculation as previously described. Treatment was performed by oral route once daily for 5 consecutive days once a) infection was confirmed (9thdpi) for mice treated in the acute-phase and b) it was established that the mice had entered the chronic-phase (75th dpi) for mice treated in the chronic-phase (Scheme 2 ).
Mice were divided into three groups (n = 5 per group): 0, negative control group (uninfected and untreated mice); I, positive control group (infected and untreated mice); II, BNZ group (infected and treated mice). BNZ was prepared at 2 mg·mL-1 in an aqueous suspension vehicle containing 5% (v/v) DMSO and 0.5% (w/v) hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (Francisco et al. , 2016). Doses of 20 mg·kg-1day-1(~200 μL) were administered for 5 consecutive days in group II, and vehicle only was administered in groups 0 and I.