Plasmodium falciparum: assessment of in vitro growth by [3H]hypoxanthine incorporation.

To evaluate rapidly Plasmodium falciparum growth in Vitro, [3H]hypoxanthine was added to parasite microcultures and radioisotope incorporation was measured. When culture parameters were carefully controlled, [3H]hypoxanthine incorporation was proportional to the number of parasitized erythrocytes present. Factors affecting [3H]hypoxanthine incorporation included initial parasitemia, duration of culture, duration of radioisotope pulse, parasite stage, concentration of uninfected erythrocytes, the use of serum or plasma to supplement growth, and the concentration of a variety of purines in the culture medium. The method described can be used to measure inhibition of P. falciparum growth by immune serum and has previously been used to study antimalarial drug activity in vitro.