The extravascular compartment of the bone marrow: a niche for Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte maturation?
BACKGROUND
Plasmodium falciparum immature gametocytes accumulate in the bone marrow, but their exact location in this tissue remains unclear.


METHODS
The stage and deposition pattern of gametocytes was analysed on histological sections of a bone marrow sample collected in a patient with subacute P. falciparum malaria.


RESULTS
A majority (89%) of immature stages II to IV gametocytes and a minority (29%) of mature stage V gametocytes were observed in extravascular spaces.


CONCLUSIONS
These observations represent a valuable step towards understanding sequestration patterns of P. falciparum gametocytes and may ultimately lead to novel transmission-blocking interventions.
Laboratoire de parasitologie-mycologie, Assistance publique hôpitaux de Paris, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France.
Eric
E
Farfour
Frédéric
F
Charlotte
Catherine
C
Settegrana
Makoto
M
Miyara
Pierre
P
Buffet
D000328:Adult; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000469:parasitology*; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008853:Microscopy; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000254:growth & development*