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Intra-erythrocytic death of the parasite in mice recovering from infection with Babesia microt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

I. A. Clark
Affiliation:
Division of Cell Pathology, Clinical Research Centre, Watford Road, Harrow.
J. E. Richmond
Affiliation:
Division of Cell Pathology, Clinical Research Centre, Watford Road, Harrow.
E. J. Wills
Affiliation:
Division of Cell Pathology, Clinical Research Centre, Watford Road, Harrow.
A. C. Allison
Affiliation:
Division of Cell Pathology, Clinical Research Centre, Watford Road, Harrow.

Extract

As mice recover from infection with Babesia microti, abnormal forms of the parasite are present in some red cells. These forms are non-infective, indistinguishable by light microscopy from those present after treatment with amicarbalide, a babesicidal drug, and persist in splenectomized mice.

Electron microscopy confirmed that these abnormal forms are degenerating intra-erythrocytic parasites. In the absence of evidence for death of B. microti elsewhere in the body, it appears that infections of mice with this parasite are normally terminated by their death within circulating red cells. This has important implications for the mechanism of immunity to both this parasite and those Plasmodium spp. with which it cross-protects in this host.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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