• 1 January 1985
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 42  (2) , 113-122
Abstract
Bloodstream form trypomastigotes of 4 cloned stocks of T. congolense from West Africa were successfully adapted to continuous in vitro culture at 28.degree. C using bovine aorta endothelial cell monolayers and Eagle''s minimum essential medium supplemented with 20% normal bovine serum or fetal calf serum. The trypanosomes maintained in vitro morphologically resembled bloodstream forms and remained infective for vertebrate hosts. They also induced local skin reactions in rabbits and were therefore designated mammalian forms, possibly resembling parasites which develop extravascularly in the vertebrate host following introduction of metacyclic trypanosomes into the skin by bites of tsetse flies. Mammalian forms of 2 stocks were allowed to transform to procyclic trypanosomes in order to obtains cultures producing epimastigote and metacyclic stages of T. congolense. Metacyclic trypanosomes produced in this manner were neutralized by antiserum raised in rabbits against the homologous trypanosome stock transmitted by tsetse flies.