Table 3. P. berghei slarp(-) sporozoites elicit limited protective responses in C57BL/6 mice against wild type sporozoite challenge.
| Immunization dosesa | Challenge dose (days after last boost)b | No. protected/No. challenged (%) | Prepatency (days)c |
| 50,000/25,000/25,000 | 10,000 (d42) | 5/5 (100%) | NA |
| 50,000/25,000/25,000 | 10,000 (d98) | 2/5 (40%) | (6,3) |
| 10,000/10,000/10,000 | 10,000 (d23) | 6/8 (75%) | (5) |
| 10,000/10,000/10,000 | 10,000 (d36) | 1/4 (25%) | (5,7) |
| 1,000/1,000/1,000 | 10,000 (d36) | 0/4 (0%) | 4,25 |
| Mosquito bites | Mosquito bites (d42) | 0/5 (0%) | 4,4 |
| None | 10,000 | 0/8 (0%) | 3,4 |
| None | Mosquito bites | 0/3 (0%) | 3,3 |
a
C57BL/6 were immunized three times at two weeks intervals, with indicated numbers of P. berghei slarp(-) sporozoites injected intravenously, or by exposure to the bites of ten slarp(-) infected mosquitoes.
b
Immunized mice were challenged by intravenous injection of 10,000 P. berghei WT sporozoites or by exposure to the bites of five WT infected mosquitoes, as indicated.
c
Number of days after sporozoite inoculation until detection of infected erythrocytes by microscopic blood smear examination.
NA, not applicable.