Action of adrenalin on the circulation of the murine Plasmodium developing stages, in different blood compartments

Adrenalin was used to investigate in vivo the circulation of the different stages of rodent Plasmodium present in the blood. A single dose of adrenalin injected to mice infected with P. yoelii resulted immediately in i) a diminution of the parasitaemia of approximately 50% in the peripheral large vessels (estimated in tail blood films), as well as in the capillaries (estimated in smears of blood collected from a fed Anopheles), and ii) an increased parasitaemia in blood collected by cardiac puncture from the right heart. The numbers of young stages of P. yoelii in the peripheral blood were initially somewhat reduced but, unexpectedly, midterm trophozoites were preferentially expelled from the peripheral blood into major organs like the heart. With P. vinckei, parasitaemia decreased only when midterm trophozoites predominated, and with P. chabaudi no effect was observed at any time. We propose that midterm trophozoites, by their increased surface area, as compared to rings, and their flexibility which contrasts with the rigid schizonts, are particularly susceptible to haemodynamic perturbations.