Benznidazole (BNZ – Elea Phoenix,) was prepared by pulverization of
tablets followed by suspension in an aqueous solution of 1% sodium
carboxymethylcellulose with 0.1% Tween 80 and delivered orally by gavage at a
concentration dosage of 100, 250 or 500mg/kg body weight. Each mouse received
0.2 ml of this suspension. Luciferase-expressing parasites were quantified in
mice by bioluminescent detection. Mice were injected intraperitoneally with
D-luciferin (150 mg/kg; PerkinElmer,) and anesthetized using 2.5% (vol/vol)
gaseous isofluorane in oxygen prior to imaging on an IVIS Lumina II imager
(Xenogen,) as previously described (32 ).
Quantification of bioluminescence and data analysis was performed using Living
Image v4.3 software (Xenogen,). Exposure time was 5 minutes.