Fig. 6

Reduced cerebral pathogenesis in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei treated with Cys/ART combination (ex vivo/in vivo assay). a Evans blue extravasation was used to assess integrity of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) of mice infected with P. berghei pRBCs treated ex vivo with either PBS, cysteamine (Cys) or artesunate (ART) alone, or in combination (ART/Cys) [see legend to Fig. 4]. Six days post-infection, mice were injected with Evans blue dye, the brains were harvested and photographed, and dye accumulation was quantified. Data is expressed as mean ± SD for each group (*p < 0.05). b, c Six days following P. berghei infection, infiltrating leukocytes were isolated by centrifugation on a 33.3 % Percoll gradient from brain homogenates and were analysed by FACS. b Representative FACS plots of cellular infiltration in the brain indicate reduced infiltration of CD45^hi leukocytes, CD45⁺CD4⁺ T cells, CD45⁺CD8⁺ T cells, TCRb⁻CD19⁺ B cells, F4/80⁺CD11b⁺ macrophages, and Ly6G⁺CD11b⁺ neutrophils in brains of mice that received ex vivo-exposed ART/Cys P. berghei parasites. c Data are expressed as the total number of viable cells in the brain, expressed as mean ± SD for each group (*p < 0.05)