title: Plasmodium falciparum in vitro schizont maturation tests in Mozambique are not improved by removing immune parasite carriers' plasma.
abstract: To study the effect of immune parasite carriers' plasma on Plasmodium falciparum schizont maturation, peripheral blood stages were incubated for 24-40 h in RPMI medium with either 5% carrier's plasma + 5% non-immune AB serum or 10% non-immune serum. The number of schizonts per 200 asexual P. falciparum was lower in non-immune serum than in the presence of carrier's plasma in 19 of 26 cases, due to increased frequency of schizont rupture when carrier's plasma was absent. It is concluded that, under these test conditions, the replacement of immune plasma by non-immune serum makes schizont maturation tests, which are based on the proportion of schizonts among asexual P. falciparum as a measure of growth, more difficult to interpret.
authors.affiliation: Sector de Malária, Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Maputo, People's Republic of Mozambique.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schapira
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Suleimanov
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Averkiev
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Schwalbach
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood / Q000469:parasitology; D002353:Carrier State; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008722:Methods; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000254:growth & development*; D013997:Time Factors