Fig. 2. Tonsil vaccination with MVA prevents SIVmac251 acquisition and is associated with control of acute viremia.

(a) Study design and percentage of uninfected animals after repeated low dose intrarectal challenge with SIVmac251 in tonsil vaccinated (n = 6) and control (n = 6) groups. Statistical analysis was performed using one-tailed Fishers Exact Test as described in ref. ¹⁰¹ and a P < 0.05 (*) was considered significant. Kinetics of plasma viral loads (Limit of detection is 50 copies/ml of plasma) (b) during 1^st 6 weeks after infection and (c) over a period of 52 weeks in control (n = 6) and tonsil vaccinated (n = 6) animals. Area Under Curve (AUC) was determined using Prism followed by Mann–Whitney U test with error bars represent standard error. (d) Absolute CD4 T cells counts at 0 and 2 weeks post infection is control (n = 6; P = 0.0043) and tonsil vaccinated (n = 6; P = ns) animals. Data are presented as mean values + /– standard error. Statistical analysis was performed using two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test and a P < 0.05 (*) was considered significant. Error bars represent standard error. (e) Plasma levels of IL-12 (P = 0.0022), MCP-1 (P = 0.0332), I-TAC (P = 0.0087), IL-1RA (P = 0.0152), and Eotaxin (P = 0.0043) at 2 weeks post infection in control (n = 6) and tonsil vaccinated (n = 6) animals. Unbiased cytokine levels were determined using a 29-plex Monkey cytokine kit. Box plots show minima, 25% percentile, median, 75 percentile and maxima. Statistical analysis was performed using two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test and a P < 0.05 (*) was considered significant. * indicate P < 0.05. Error bars represent standard error.