Abstract
To assess the interaction between the cellular elements of the blood and neurovascular endothelia in cerebral malaria, brain tissue from adult rhesus moneys (Macaca mulatta) infected with a virulent (W1) strain of Plasmodium knowlesi were studied by light and electron microscopical techniques. Light microscopical examination showed sequestration of macrophages and margination of erythrocytes containing late stages of the parasite in the capillaries and venules throughout the brains of the infected monkeys. Brain microvascular lesions (associated with parasitised erythrocytes and macrophage attachment to vascular walls) seen with the electron microscope, were swelling of the endothelial cells, formation of pseudopodia, increased numbers of pinocytotic vesicles and disorganisation of the mitochondria. Parasitised mature erythrocytes and macrophages adhered to the vascular endothelial lining in equal proportions. The endothelial ultrastructural alterations were similar to those described in experimental rodent and in clinical human cerebral malaria.
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Ibiwoyel, M.O., Sibbons, P.D., Howard, C.V. et al. Cerebral malaria in the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta): Light and electron microscopic changes in blood cells and cerebrovascular endothelia. Comparative Haematology International 3, 153–158 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00186099
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00186099