Specific lymphocyte transformation in murine malaria.

Lymphoblast transformation tests were performed on convalescent rats and mice, after infection with Plasmodium berghei had been reduced to latency. Spleen cells from immune animals reacted in vitro to specific plasmodial antigen and not to control antigen produced from non infected RBC. The response in vitro was dependent on the concentration of the antigen and the time of exposure to it. A correlation was observed between the parasitaemia of the convalescent animal during its acute infection and the reaction in vitro: the higher the parasitaemia the higher the in vitro simulation.