Fig. 5

Effect of anti-rPfCelTOS antibodies on P. falciparum NF54 parasite infectivity in An. stephensi mosquitoes. Standard membrane feeding assays (SMFA) were performed on day 38 with pooled mouse sera (n = 16) of different vaccine groups (1–4) that was mixed with mature P. falciparum NF54 cultured gametocytes and fed to An. stephensi (n= 50 per cup) in SMFA. Midguts were dissected 9–10 days post feeding. A pooled NMS (n = 20) was used as the negative control. Oocyst counts revealed the successful development of P. falciparum in the An. stephensi. Two separate membrane feeds were done using serum from each vaccine group (1–4), and oocyst counts were pooled for statistical analysis. The Table shows the evaluation of P. falciparum infectivity and oocyst counts in different vaccine groups (1–4) and the control group. Statistical analysis (Mann–Whitney U-test and Fisher’s exact test) was carried out using IBM SPSS 21.0 for Windows. Data points represent the number of oocysts in individual mosquitoes, and the lines show the arithmetic mean of oocyst count. The Table shows the prevalence of infected mosquitoes, oocysts mean number, oocyst range, and percentage inhibition of oocyst in vaccine groups (1–4) relative to the control group. The Mann–Whitney U-test and Fisher’s exact test were used to test differences in oocyst inhibition and prevalence, respectively, between the vaccine groups and control group. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.001, ***P < 0.0001. Ag rPfCelTOS antigen, NMS normal mouse sera