CLONED LINES OF PLASMODIUM-BERGHEI ANKA DIFFER IN THEIR ABILITIES TO INDUCE EXPERIMENTAL CEREBRAL MALARIA

Infection with Plasmodium berghei ANKA is usually lethal. The parasite causes in some mouse strains a neurovascular syndrome, experimental c erebral malaria (ECM), involving immunopathological reactions. The eff ects on the development of ECM of the mouse genetic background have be en clearly demonstrated, but nothing is known about the effects of the clonal diversity of the parasite. We showed that various cloned lines derived from a polyclonal line of P. berghei ANKA caused ECM but that the extent of ECM induction was dependent on the amount of inoculum, Subtle differences in ECM characteristics (survival time and hypotherm ia) were also observed, We also confirmed, using the 1.49L cloned line , that the mouse genetic background strongly affects ECM.