Fig. 6: Association of phagocytosis of rIEs and uEs with high haemoglobin levels in CHMI individuals.

A Hb levels were measured once in biologically independent blood samples from volunteers (n = 142) at n = 2-time points on the day before the challenge (C-1, open squares) and the day of discharge (DOD, closed squares). Each data point represents the Hb level from independent volunteers at distinct time points. Red lines indicate the mean and 95% confidence intervals. P value determined by a two-sided Wilcoxon signed-rank t test for matched pairs. B Hb levels measured on DOD subtracted from those on C-1 for treated (n = 56, closed circles) versus non-treated (n = 86, open circles) volunteers. Each data point represents the difference in Hb levels between C-1 and DOD for each volunteer. Red lines indicate the mean and 95% confidence intervals. The dotted horizontal line indicates no difference between C-1 and DOD. The P value comparing the decrease in Hb was determined by a two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test. C Sub-group analysis for a decrease in Hb for treated volunteers who either developed fever (febrile, n = 26, red circles) or did not (non-febrile, n = 30, blue triangles), and untreated volunteers in whom parasites were either detected by PCR (PCR + ve, n = 53, purple triangles) or remained negative (PCR-ve, n = 33, orange diamonds). Each data point represents the difference in Hb levels between C-1 and DOD. Black lines indicate the mean and 95% confidence intervals. P values comparing the decrease in Hb were determined by the Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparison test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.