In vitro adaptability of Plasmodium falciparum to different fresh serum alternatives.

To reduce the dependency on fresh AB+ serum in continuous culture of Plasmodium falciparum, a comparative study was undertaken to assess the in vitro adaptability of P. falciparum to media supplemented with fresh AB+ serum from whole blood, AB+ plasma, serum derived from AB+ plasma, AB+ human serum from Sigma, Albumax II, fetal bovine serum and new born calf serum, independently and in different combinations. Combinations were used to analyze whether two different substitutes demonstrate any synergistic effect on the growth of the parasites. Our findings exhibited that the combination of fresh human serum and Albumax II showed good growth pattern in comparison to that of fresh serum and can thereby be instrumental in reducing the role of fresh human serum in continuous parasite maintenance. Culture maintained with Albumax II with or without hypoxanthine showed average growth.