Intramuscular immunization with a liposomal multi-epitope chimeric protein induces strong cellular immune responses against visceral leishmaniasis

Figure S1. Lipo:LiChimera-immunized mice exhibit reduced splenomegaly after L. infantum challenge. BALB/c mice (n=6-8) were intramuscularly immunized twice at a 3-week interval with Lipo:LiChimera. Non-immunized mice (PBS) or mice immunized with empty liposomes (Lipo) served as control groups. One month after the second immunization, mice were intravenously challenged with 10⁷ L. infantum promastigotes. Three months post challenge, the weight (mg) of (A) spleen and (B) liver was assessed. Statistics were performed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey–Kramer multiple-comparisons test. The results are presented as the mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.