Cofactors and vitamins in the metabolism of malarial parasites. Factors other than folates.

Relatively few cofactors have so far been demonstrated to be essential for the intracellular development of erythrocytic stages of malarial parasites. Besides 4-aminobenzoic acid, presumably required for the synthesis of folates, these are biotin and pantothenate. The pantothenate is not used directly by the parasites but rather as coenzyme A synthesized by the host erythrocyte. Parasites maintained extracellularly in vitro also have a requirement for exogenous adenosine triphosphate. No information is available concerning cofactor requirements of the sporogonic or pre-erythrocytic stages.