Peptone-liver (P-L) a new culture medium for the Egyptian Leishmania major

Leishmania major promastigotes isolated from an Egyptian ZCL patient, was inoculated 4 x 10(6)/ml in a new culture medium, peptone-liver (P-L), with a final concentration of 10% of FCS (fetal calf serum), and incubated at 25+/-1 degrees C. Meanwhile, the same number of promastigotes were inoculated in Schneider's Drosophila medium as control. On the 10th day, number of L. major promastigotes reached 29,25 x 10(6)/ml. The same number was obtained with Schneider's Drosophila medium within four days. The new culture medium or P-L medium is cheap, easily prepared, and gave a very good number of promastigotes as in Schneider's Drosophila medium but in a longer time.