Impact of passive and active immunization against Ixofin3D-PF on <i>B. burgdorferi</i> burden in ticks and in murine skin.

<p><b>A–C:</b> Rabbit anti-rIxofin3D-PF serum or rabbit anti-Ovalbumin serum was passively transferred into each mouse 24 h prior to <i>B. burgdorferi</i>-infected tick challenge (4–5 ticks/mouse). <b>A.</b> Engorgement weights of repleted ticks; <b>B.</b> qRT-PCR assessment of <i>Borrelia</i> burden in tick guts and salivary glands; <b>C.</b> qPCR assessment of <i>Borrelia</i> burden in murine skin at 7 and 14 days post-tick feeding. <b>D–F:</b> Mice actively immunized with rIxofin3D-PF or Ovalbumin and challenged with <i>B. burgdorferi</i>-infected ticks (4–5 ticks/mouse). <b>D.</b> Engorgement weights of repleted ticks; <b>E.</b> qRT-PCR assessment of <i>Borrelia</i> burden in tick guts and salivary glands; <b>F.</b> qPCR assessment of <i>Borrelia</i> burden in mice skin at 7 and 14 days post-tick feeding. Each data point in A and D represents one tick. Each data point in B and E represents a pool of 2–3 guts or salivary glands. Each data point in C and F represents one mouse. Error bars represent mean ± SEM and mean values significantly different in a two-tailed non-parametric Mann-Whitney test (<i>p</i><0.05) indicated by an asterisk. A representative of three experiments is shown.