Figure 1.

Plasmodium vivax field isolates demonstrate robust primary infection in liver-chimeric humanized mice

Number of (A) hypnozoites (Spearman correlation r = 0.8) and (B) schizonts (Spearman correlation r = 0.964) observed per 100 mm² of liver tissue section visualized 8 days post-infection using immunofluorescence assay (IFA). (C) Log₁₀Plasmodium 18S rRNA copies per μg of liver quantified after liver harvest and RNA extraction (Pearson correlation r = 0.872). (D) Hypnozoite formation frequency (HFF) (%) observed per inocula (p = 0.506, Kruskal-Wallis test). Number of (E) hypnozoites and (F) schizonts present during the acute infection (5–8 days post-infection) for nine distinct P. vivax field isolates. (G) Log₁₀Plasmodium 18S rRNA copies per μg of liver and (H) HFF for the same infections in (E–G). Each data point represents one animal. For microscopy counts, >3 liver tissue sections were counted per animal. The same parasite isolate (VTTY116) was used for (A–D). The number of sporozoites used for each infection in (E–H) was: VTTY108, VUNL23, VUNL28, VUNL41: 1,000,000; VTTY111: 600,000; VTTY116: 800,000; VTTY135; VTTY137: 500,000, and VYBN14: 850,000. Error bars represent 95% confidence interval.