Demonstration of hypnozoites in sporozoite-transmitted Plasmodium vivax infection

Hypnozoites of two strains of the human relapsing malaria parasite, Plasmodium vivax, have been detected among maturing 7- and 10-day pre-erythrocytic schizonts in liver biopsies of chimpanzees infected by intravenous inoculation of sporozoites obtained from dissected salivary glands of heavily infected anopheline mosquitoes. As in the simian relapsing species, P. cynomolgi, the hypnozoites of P. vivax at 7 and 10 days are uninucleate forms of approximately 4-5 micrometers diameter, lying within the cytoplasm of individual hepatocytes. Their presence in this relapsing human species is added support for the hypnozoite theory of malarial relapse.