Growth and immunity conferred by a Plasmodium falciparum temperature sensitive mutant in Panamanian owl monkeys

We have compared the growth of the wild type Plasmodium falciparum strain Honduras 1 and a previously isolated temperature sensitive mutant of it, AP1-16, in Panamanian owl monkeys. We examined serially infected splenectomized and normal animals that were initially infected with cultured parasites that had been grown in a mixture of owl monkey and human erythrocytes. Initial infections in splenectomized monkeys were marked by multiple recrudescences. The mutant grew less well than the wild type in the splenectomized monkeys, as determined by lower peak and total parasitemias. In the splenectomized monkeys tested by rechallenge with the wild type parasite, the mutant stimulated a comparable degree of protection. That protection was manifested in 2 ways. There was a marked reduction in the level of the primary parasitemia in the rechallenged monkeys and an absence of recrudescent parasitemias after the primary parasitemia. The potential value of generating and studying temperature sensitive P. falciparum strains that show attenuated growth is considered.