Addition of hypoxanthine to culture media allows in vitro cultivation of Babesia bovis and B. bigemina at reduced serum concentrations.

The microaerophilous stationary phase system (MASP) was introduced in 1980 and successfully used as a standard technique for Babesia bovis and B. bigemina in vitro culture. The percentage of serum in the medium and the dependence on specific serum donors have been recognized as important constraints both for immunochemical studies and for the logistics of culture routine. In the present study the supplementation of RPMI 1640 with hypoxanthine at a concentration between 50 and 200 μM has enabled patterns of growth of B. bovis and B. bigemina to be achieved comparable to the standard technique with a simultaneous reduction of serum concentration from 40% to 5%. With hypoxanthine-supplemented medium it was possible to either replace the bovine serum from a specific donor with horse serum or use commercial adult bovine serum or foetal calf serum at 10%. When the serum replacement media Albumax II and GF21 were used, the growth of both B. bovis and B. bigemina markedly decreased after 3 × 72 h cycles. However, when these species were cultivated in culture flasks previously coated with cells from a murine peritoneal lavage, continuous parasite growth was achieved.