Evaluating Immune Modulation in Giardia Infection

Mice were classified into two groups: (i) the MOCK control group and (ii) the MCC950 inhibitor group. In each group, there were five treatment methods (n = 7/treatment group): (i) the PBS treatment negative control group (PBS only; 100 µl/mouse PBS through intramuscular (i.m.) injection (anterior tibial muscle) [28 (link), 29 (link)]; (ii) pcDNA3.1(+) plasmid negative control group (100 µg/mouse DNA through i.m. injection); (iii) G. duodenalis cyst infection positive control group (1.5 × 10⁶ cysts/mouse by gavage); (iv) pcDNA3.1(+)-alpha-2 plasmid treatment group (100 µg/mouse DNA through i.m. injection); and (v) pcDNA3.1(+)-alpha-7.3 plasmid treatment group (100 µg/mouse DNA through i.m. injection). After 12 h, the mice in the MCC950 inhibitor group received MCC950 (10 mg/kg BW) i.p. daily for 7 days, whereas the mice in the MOCK group were treated with an equal volume of PBS. Blood samples were collected from the eyeballs of the mice and allowed to stand overnight at 4 °C. Serum samples were separated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure the IL-1β levels.