Anti-trypanosome effects of nutritional supplements and vitamin D3: in vitro and in vivo efficacy against Trypanosoma brucei brucei

Table 3 Body weight, RBC, and WBC levels in mice after pre- and post-infection stratified according to supplement administration

Parameters			T. b. brucei infection (+) and treatment with
Parameters		Infection-free	No treatment	Vitamin D₃	Polyphenon-60	Suramin
Body weight (g)	Pre-infection^b	20.0 ± 1.05	22.4 ± 1.32		22.2 ± 0.89
Body weight (g)	Post-infection^c		21.6 ± 0.94	20.4 ± 1.46	18.6 ± 0.96	20.3 ± 0.56
RBC (×10⁶/ml)	Pre-infection^b	8.30 ± 0.62	8.45 ± 0.37		11.2 ± 0.22
RBC (×10⁶/ml)	Post-infection^c		6.42 ± 0.94^a	10.9 ± 0.11	8.10 ± 0.23	9.90 ± 0.97
WBC (×10³/ml)	Pre-infection^b	5.90 ± 0.11	4.40 ± 0.14		4.17 ± 0.56
WBC (×10³/ml)	Post-infection^c		4.60 ± 0.15^a	2.20 ± 0.44^a	3.50 ± 0.16^a	3.70 ± 0.56^a

^aStatistically significant differences between the four groups and infection-free group are shown after analysis of variance (ANOVA). p value is less than 0.05 to the chosen significance level
^bPre-infection: on day 4 of polyphenon-60 treatment but not yet infected with T. b brucei GUTat 3.1 strain
^cPost-infection: 7 days after infection

ISSN: 1349-4147