Neutralizing antibody in Rodent Malaria.

Small numbers of rat erythrocytes infected with viable P. berghei, when inoculated into susceptible rats together with hyperimmune rat serum (HIS), are fully neutralized. Serum from convalescent rats delays the onset of patency but does not neutralize. The neutralizing efficiency of HIS rises in proportion to the number of successive reinoculations of hyperimmune rats. In contrast, mice inoculated with parasites together with either HIS or normal rat serum succumbed to the disease at the same time after inoculation. Neutralization in rats occurs in vivo and is completed within 22 hours of inoculation. Much larger amounts of HIS are needed to achieve neutralization in splenectomized recipients than in intact rats. The action of HIS is dose-dependent. Thus, the degree of suppression of parasitaemia is proportional to the dose of HIS, while the mortality rate is inversely proportional to the dose. Suboptimal doses may even enhance the infection of recipient rats. The ability to produce neutralizing antibody is dissimilar in two strains of rat. Thus, the outbred Sabra strain produces neutralizing HIS, while the inbred Lewis rat is incapable of producing perceptible neutralizing antibody in our experimental model.