Parasitology Research

, Volume 73, Issue 3, pp 218–223 | Cite as

Human serum resistance of metacyclic forms ofTrypanosoma brucei brucei, T. brucei rhodesiense andT. brucei gambiense

  • R. Brun
  • L. Jenni
Original Investigations
Accepted:

Abstract

Resistance against the lytic action of human serum has been tested among metacyclic and bloodstream forms ofTrypanosoma brucei brucei, T. b. rhodesiense andT. b. gambiense stocks and clones. The resistance was determined by applying an in vitro human serum resistance test. Whereas the majority ofT. b. gambiense metacyclic forms exhibited stable human serum resistance,T. b. rhodesiense metacyclics showed inconsistent resistance within a minority of parasites, which tended to diminish completely with prolonged passages in rodents. Infection of tsetse flies with in vivo or in vitro selected human serum resistant forms did not significantly increase the proportion of resistant parasites among extruded metacyclic forms. In aT. b. rhodesiense stock which never showed human serum resistance in the metacyclic forms, human serum resistance reappeared after a 2-day cultivation period in the presence of a mammalian serum. These results reflect important phenotypic dynamics and may lead to a better understanding of the epidemiology of African human sleeping sickness.

Keywords

Human Serum Cultivation Period Serum Resistance Resistance Test Resistant Form 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 1987

Authors and Affiliations

  • R. Brun
    • 1
  • L. Jenni
    • 1
  1. 1.Swiss Tropical InstituteBaselSwitzerland

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