E. Hulier et al., A METHOD FOR THE QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF MALARIA PARASITE DEVELOPMENT IN ORGANS OF THE MAMMALIAN HOST, Molecular and biochemical parasitology, 77(2), 1996, pp. 127-135
A non-radioactive PCR method was developed to quantify the development
of malaria parasites in the infected host, This was achieved by using
Plasmodium genus-specific primers corresponding to the parasite's sma
ll subunit ribosomal RNA genes. The quantification of the PCR product
was performed by high performance liquid chromatography, and calibrati
on curves were obtained by amplification from defined quantities of pu
rified Plasmodium genomic DNA. Using this method, it was possible to q
uantify development of P. berghei and P. yoelii blood-stage parasites
from blood and brain samples of infected mice, and of hepatic stage pa
rasites, From liver samples of mice infected with different numbers of
sporozoites.