Ultrastructural Observations on the Infection of Rat Liver by Plasmodium berghei Sporozoites In Vivo1

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The invasion of liver parenchymal cells by sporozoites of P. berghei Vincke et Lips, 1948, was studied in vivo using transmission electron microscopy. Livers of Brown Norway rats were examined 30 and 60 min after intraportal injection of 15 million sporozoites each. Sporozoites found after incorporation into vacuoles in hepatocytes were often located near a bile canaliculus at the lateral surface, surrounded by hepatocyte lysosomal structures, but degradation of sporozoites caused by lysosomal digestion inside hepatocytes was never observed. Due to the crescent shape of sporozoites, serial sections were necessary to demonstrate the actual process of invasion of the hepatocyte. The hepatocyte''s plasmalemma appeared to invaginate due to the sporozoite''s action, thereby creating a parasitophorous vacuole. The sporozoite probably actively penetrated the hepatocyte, but no visible depletion of rhoptries and micronemes was observed.