<i>F</i>. <i>hepatica</i> infection promotes the recruitment of MHC^low IL-10⁺ DCs both at the peritoneal cavity and spleen.

Mice (n = 5 per group) were orally infected with 10 metacercariae in PBS (infected mice). PBS alone served as a control (non-infected mice). Mice were sacrificed one, two and three weeks after the infection and spleens and PECs were removed. Splenocyte (A) and PEC (B) suspensions were counted and the presence of CD11chi cells was analyzed by flow cytometry by staining cells with specific antibodies. CD11chi cells were selected after excluding CD3+ followed by exclusion of F4/80+ cells (C). Splenocytes (D) and PECs (E) were also incubated with anti-MCHII, permeabilized, and intracellularly stained with anti-IL-10 and IL-12/23p40 antibodies for 30 min at 4°C. Cells were analyzed on a flow cytometer. Results are expressed as the mean of three independent experiments (±SD, indicated by error bars). Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences (*p < 0.01) with respect to cells from non-infected animals.