Fig 3. Protective efficacy of GamTBvac against M. tuberculosis H37Rv infection in murine and guinea pig models.
The mice were immunized subcutaneously with GamTBvac and BCG (5×106 CFU) in different regimens. BCG was administered once at the 1st week and GamTBvac twice (three weeks apart). The control group was injected with PBS. For the acute murine model, the mice were retro-orbitally infected with MTB H37Rv two weeks after the last immunization. The results presented are given as mean Log10 CFU per organ ± 95%CI from groups of seven mice (n = 7), * P<0.05, relative to PBS; ** P<0.05, relative to both PBS and BCG. Thirty days after infection, protective efficacy was measured (n = 6) in lungs (A) and spleens (B). For the aerosol murine model, the mice were infected in aerosol infection chamber to get 103 CFU per animal sixty days after the last immunization. Four weeks later, bacterial load (n = 6) was determined in lungs (C) and spleens (D). Aerosol infection (n = 15) was monitored for more than 400 days until all mice died (E).