SPP1 and infection: We observe that OPN starts to increase in the beginning of the post-postural phase (5–6 weeks post-infection, p = 0.0005 vs non-infected) and OPN levels peaked 7–11 weeks post-infection (p = 0.0001 vs uninfected; p = 0.04 vc 5–6 weeks; p = 0.001 vs 12 weeks and p = 0.0001 vs 24 weeks), when the livers are enriched with necrotic-exudative granulomas (Fig 1C).