Establishment of a continuous in vitro culture of Babesia duncani in human erythrocytes reveals unusually high tolerance to recommended therapies.

ABSTRACT: Human babesiosis is an emerging tick-borne disease caused by apicomplexan parasites of the genus Babesia Clinical cases caused by Babesia duncani have been associated with high parasite burden, severe pathology, and death. In both mice and hamsters, the parasite causes uncontrolled fulminant infections, which ultimately lead to death. Resolving these infections requires knowledge of B. duncani biology, virulence, and susceptibility to anti-infectives, but little is known and further research is hindered by a lack of relevant model systems. Here, we report the first continuous in vitro culture of B. duncani in human red blood cells. We show that during its asexual cycle within human erythrocytes, B. duncani develops and divides to form four daughter

SUBMITTER: Abraham A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6311517 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature