FIG. 4.

Allicin inhibits sporozoite invasion of host cells. P. berghei sporozoites were pretreated for 10 min with the indicated concentrations of allicin, which was then diluted 12-fold before sporozoite addition to cells. After 1 h, cells were fixed and stained, and the numbers of intracellular and extracellular sporozoites were determined. “50*” indicates that Hepa 1-6 cells were preincubated with 50 μM allicin for 1 h and washed, and untreated sporozoites were then added to the cells. Each point was performed in triplicate, ≥50 fields/well were counted, and the means ± standard deviations are shown. Inhibition of invasion was calculated based on the invasion rate for sporozoites pretreated with buffer alone, which was 57%.