Fig. 1

Scheme showing the cidal vs static in vitro activity assay against stage V Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes. Gametocytes were incubated for 48 h with 20 × IC₅₀. After drug was washed out, the parasites were cultured for 96 h with complete culture medium with drug (A) or without drug (B) to evaluate the reversibility of compound effects. Two samples at t = 0, 48, 96, and 144 h were taken for RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis and qPCR amplification. Comparison of mRNA levels of treated P. falciparum cultures upon removal of the drug was used to assess the cidal vs static activity