Lactic Acid Supplementation Increases Quantity and Quality of Gametocytes in Plasmodium falciparum Culture.

ABSTRACT: Malaria infection by Plasmodium falciparum continues to afflict millions of people worldwide, with transmission being dependent upon mosquito ingestion of the parasite gametocyte stage. These sexually committed stages develop from the asexual stages, yet the factors behind this transition are not completely understood. Here, we found that lactic acid increases gametocyte quantity and quality in P. falciparum culture. Low-passage-number NF54 parasites exposed to 8.2 mM lactic acid for various times were monitored using blood film gametocyte counts and RNA analysis throughout 2 weeks of gametocyte development in vitro for a total of 5 biological cohorts. We found that daily continuous medium exchange and 8.2 mM lactic acid supplementation increased gametocytemia approximately 2- to 6-fold re

SUBMITTER: West R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7927926 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature