Figure 3.

The kinetics of serum anti-P. chabaudi antibodies and cytokines of protected and susceptible mice after P. chabaudi challenge infection. Test mice were initially infected with B. microti and then challenged with P. chabaudi on days 7 (acute group) or 28 (chronic group) post primary infection. Control mice received P. chabaudi alone. On days 2, 4, and 6 after challenge infection the levels of IgG (A), IgG1 (B), IgM (C), IFN-γ (D), IL-10 (E), IL-12 (F), IL-2 (G), and TNF-α (H) were determined. For detection of serum antibodies against P. chabaudi, crude P. chabaudi lysate was used as coating antigen in ELISA assays. Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences (*P < 0.05; **P < 0.005, and ***P < 0.0001 compared to control mice). Results are expressed as mean values ± the SD of five mice.