title: Folic acid the essential supplement to brain heart infusion broth for cultivation and cloning of Leishmania donovani promastigotes.
abstract: Multiplication of virulent and avirulent Leishmania donovani promastigotes was inhibited by brain heart infusion broth (BHI) (3.7%) supplemented with haemolysed or whole blood (2.5-10%) or heat-inactivated foetal bovine serum (HIFBS) (10-20%). Peptone, glutamine, tryptophan, purine bases, ribonucleosides, deoxyribonucleosides, B-vitamins and vitamin C were evaluated for the reversal of this growth inhibition. Supplementation of BHI with folic acid further supplemented with haemolysed rabbit blood or HIFBS and haemin supported propagation in serial subpassages of 2 primary isolates and 3 other virulent strains of L. donovani and 1 strain of L. major. Folic acid supplemented BHI with 3% rabbit blood in solid phase with 0.7% agar also supported the colony formation of L. donovani. This manuscript documents the development of high efficiency media for the cultivation of L. donovani promastigotes in liquid phase and as colonies on agar plates using BHI as a basal medium.
authors.affiliation: Leishmania Group, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Calcutta, India.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood; D001921:Brain; D002417:Cattle; D006224:Cricetinae; D003470:Culture Media; D005333:Fetus; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D006321:Heart; D006461:Hemolysis; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D008647:Mesocricetus; D011817:Rabbits; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D005492:Folic Acid