Immunologic Stuudies of Rats Infected with Plasmodium Berghei

摘要

Fifteen white, Wistar rats were infected with Plasmodium berghei of the KBG 173 strain and their serologic and hematologic reactions were studied. Nine similar non-infected rats were studied as controls. Only one of the infected rats survived. During the course of the experiment all of the rats exhibited a reticulocytosis and a decrease in the per cent packed cell volume. These changes were more pronounced in the infected animals. Only those rats which had been infected with P. berghei produced detectable antibodies for RNA, trypsinized rat erythrocytes, and DNA. The normal animals did not produce detectable amounts of antibody. The failure of the control animals to produce antibody would seem to indicate that the antibodies were produced as a result of the P. berghei infection and were not caused solely by the blood loss incurred through sample collection. The results obtained in this experiment indicated that serum factors specific for host tissue components develop in rats infected with P. berghei. (Author)