Parasites were maintained in Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus) at
the Centro de Bioterismo e Experimentação Animal (CBEA) (UFU),
MG, Brazil. The animals were inoculated subcutaneously with
S. venezuelensis infective larvae (L3). After 7 days of infection, feces
were collected for charcoal culture. After 3 days in culture, the infective
larvae were collected according to the Rugai method [9], centrifuged
at 1500 rpm for 5 min in phosphate buffered saline (PBS)
pH 7.2 and stored at −20 °C until use