A PROCEDURE FOR HARVESTING OF MAMMALIAN PLASMODIA

  • 1 January 1967
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 37  (3) , 431-+
Abstract
Immunochemical research into the antigenic structure of a given disease agent presupposes the availability of undergraded antigen. Some types of immunochemical studies of plasmodia can be carried out with the intracellular parasites in situ in the host cell (studies using the fluorescent antibody technique). In other techniques (double diffusion in gel, disc electrophoresis) the presence of host cell contaminants is undesirable; and these have to be reduced to a minimum. A method is described for harvesting mammalian (rodent, simian, and human) plasmodia. Plasmodia in the product are significantly concentrated as compared with the original samples. This point is particularly important in harvesting human plasmodia in which parasitemias tend to be very low. Significant reduction of red- and white-cell contaminants is a-chieved. Antigens in the cell-free plasmodial products obtained apparently in their native state, give replicable results in studies of double diffusion in gel, immunoelectrophoresis and disc electrophoresis, passive hemagglutination and vaccination.