Figure 2

Malaria parasites in the blood (A) and lungs (B) of Pcc -infected and co-infected mice. (A) Co-infected mice (Nb+Pcc) had a lower peak proportion of parasitized RBCs than Pcc-infected mice did (P = 0.0465), as determined by 1000× microscopic examination of Giemsa-stained thin blood films. Means ± SEM from combined results of 3 independent experiments (each with 4-9 mice per group per time point) are shown. (B) Co-infected mice harboured greater numbers of Pcc genome copies per lung sample than Pcc mice at 3 days pi (P = 0.01), as assessed by real-time PCR of lung homogenates (derived from 75 mg lung) using MSP-1 specific primers. Genome copies were apparent in both Pcc infected groups at 7 days pi and the copy numbers no longer differed significantly between groups. This experiment included 4-7 mice per group. The symbol § indicates significance of the difference between co-infected and Pcc mice.