SPN and infection: Following intravenous infection with amastigote forms of Leishmania (L.)infantum chagasi we observed that the increased susceptibility of CD43-deficient mice was correlated with greater increases in the liver/body weight ratio (Figure 1B) and intrahepatic parasite burden at 30 days post-infection in CD43−/− mice than in the wild-type control mice (Figure 1C).