Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax: lactate dehydrogenase activity and its application for in vitro drug susceptibility assay.

Lactate dehydrogenase, the terminal enzyme of anerobic Embden-Meyerhoff glycolysis, plays an important role in the carbohydrate metabolism of human malaria parasites. Based on the ability of malarial lactate dehydrogenase to use 3-acetylpyridine NAD as a coenzyme in a reaction leading to the formation of pyruvate from L-lactate, the enzymatic activity of fresh clinical isolates of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax was determined in relation to incubation time, asexual stages, and parasitemia and applied to a drug susceptibility assay. Lactate dehydrogenase activity was detectable at a parasitemia > 0.4%, at a hematocrit of 1.5%, and increased with parasitemia. Maximal lactate dehydrogenase activity was generally observed between 36 and 48 hr, when the trophozoites and schizonts predominated. The results of the in vitro drug susceptibility assays based on the inhibition of lactate dehydrogenase activity and on the incorporation of tritium-labeled hypoxanthine were correlated. For an optimal performance against fresh clinical malaria isolates, however, the enzymatic assay requires an initial parasitemia between 1 and 2% at a hematocrit of 1.5%.