FLUORESCENT ANTIBODY STUDIES IN EXPERIMENTAL MALARIAS. I. STUDIES ON PLASMODIUM GALLINACEUM AND PLASMODIUM BERGHEI

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses fluorescent antibody (FA) studies in experimental malarias focusing on Plasmodium Gallinaceum and Plasmodium Berghei. For the studies on Plasmodium gallinaceum the direct FA method was used; serum was derived from a chicken immunized by multiple inoculations, conjugated with fluorescein isothiocyanate, and fractionated on a DEAE's cellulose column. With this reagent, fluorescent staining could be demonstrated with erythrocytic parasites, both asexual and gametocytes, ookinetes, oocysts, sporozoites, and exoerythrocytic forms in the brain capillaries. Brightly staining masses of fluorescent material appeared to precipitate on some of the sporozoites. These precipitates were located at the tip end and on the lateral wall just distil to the nucleus and these areas appear to correspond with the apical cup and the micropyle of the sporozoites. Thus, there appears to be an antigenic continuity throughout the stages of the parasite life cycle, demonstrable with serum from a vertebrate host immunized only through exposure to blood parasites.