In plasmodium falciparum infection, the number of cycles in which the parasite undergoes in the liver is:
High-Yield Explanation
Sexual cycle of falciparum consists of gametogony (production of gametes) in humans and sporogony (production of sporozoites) in mosquitoes; asexual cycle (schizogony) occurs in humans. Sporozoites in saliva of female Anopheles mosquito enter the human bloodstream and rapidly invade hepatocytes (exoerythrocytic phase). There they multiply and form merozoites (Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium ovale also form hypnozoites, a latent form). Merozoites leave the hepatocytes and infect red cells (erythrocytic phase). There they form schizonts that release more merozoites, which infect other red cells in a synchronous pattern (3 days for Plasmodium malariae; 2 days for the others). Ref: Levinson W. (2012). Pa IX. Brief Summaries of Medically Impoant Organisms. In W. Levinson (Ed), Review of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, 12e.