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Ultrastructural Observations on the Infection of Rat Liver by Plasmodium berghei Sporozoites In Vivo 1
Author(s) -
MEIS JACQUES F. G. M.,
VERHAVE JAN PETER,
JAP PAUL H. K.,
SINDEN ROBERT E.,
MEUWISSEN JOSEPH H. E. T.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
the journal of protozoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 0022-3921
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1983.tb02931.x
Subject(s) - plasmodium berghei , hepatocyte , vacuole , ultrastructure , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , rhoptry , cytoplasm , plasmodium (life cycle) , in vivo , anatomy , immunology , biochemistry , in vitro , apicomplexa , parasite hosting , malaria , plasmodium falciparum , world wide web , computer science
The invasion of liver parenchymal cells by sporozoites of Plasmodium berghei Vincke & Lips, 1948, was studied in vivo using transmission electron microscopy. Livers of Brown Norway rats were examined 30 and 60 min after intraportal injection of 15 million sporozoites each. Sporozoites found after incorporation into vacuoles in hepatocytes were often located near a bile canaliculus at the lateral cell surface, surrounded by hepatocyte lysosomal structures; however, degradation of sporozoites caused by lysosomal digestion inside hepatocytes was never observed. Due to the crescent shape of sporozoites, serial sections were necessary to demonstrate the actual process of invasion of the hepatocyte. The hepatocyte's plasmalemma appeared to invaginate due to the sporozoite's action, thereby creating a parasitophorous vacuole. It was suggested that the sporozoite actively penetrated the hepatocyte; however, no visible depletion of rhoptries and micronemes was observed.