Figure 2

HMGB1 is elevated in plasma of mice susceptible to developing severe and fatal malaria following Plasmodium berghei ANKA infection. Plasma expression levels of HMGB1 were measured by Western blot from plasma collected on day 5 post-infection with Plasmodium berghei-ANKA, a rodent adapted parasite strain (A-B) Band intensities for D0 (grey bar) and D5 (white bar) in each group were compared on the same blot by using the NIH Image J software. Statistically significant differences between D0 and D5 were assessed by the paired t-test in each group. * indicates a p value of <0.05 (p = 0.004). Histograms represent mean + SEM obtained from a pooled result from at least two independent Western blot analyses from two independent PbA infection studies (n = 15-20/group). Representative Western blots are shown in panel (B). Systemic levels of HMGB1 in plasma over the course of PbA infection (on day 1, 3, 5 and 6 post infection) were assessed by ELISA in ECM-susceptible C57BL/6 mice (C). HMGB1 levels are shown as the fold change compared to the geometric mean of baseline HMGB1 levels obtained from naïve, uninfected littermate C57BL/6 mice. Bars represent mean + SEM (n = 5/time point). Statistical significant difference between day 1 and day 5 levels were determined by Kruskal Wallis with Dunn’s multiple comparison test. * indicates a p value of <0.05.