Schuster Frederick L
Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory, State of California Department of Health Services, Richmond, California 94804, USA.
Clin Microbiol Rev. 2002 Jul;15(3):365-73. doi: 10.1128/CMR.15.3.365-373.2002.
Babesia and its close relatives are members of a group of organisms called piroplasms, a name which comes from their pear-shaped outlines. Long associated with blood diseases of cattle and other mammals, members of the genus Babesia have been recognized since the 1950s as infectious agents in humans. Species of this protozoan blood parasite that have routinely been isolated from mice (B. microti) or cattle (B. divergens) have also been isolated from humans. In addition to these familiar species, new isolates that resist being placed in existing taxonomic categories are the basis for rethinking their phylogenetic relationships based on sequencing data. The parasite represents a threat to the safety of the blood supply in that blood from asymptomatic humans can transmit Babesia to blood recipients. Such transmissions have occurred. The development of methods for cultivation of these organisms represents a significant opportunity to study their biology and disease potential. In addition, in vitro cultivation has provided a basis for studying immune responses of mammals to these infectious agents, with the hope of ultimately producing attenuated strains that could be used for immunizing of cattle and, perhaps, humans who live in areas of endemicity. The microaerophilous stationary phase culture technique, which uses a tissue culture medium base supplemented with appropriate serum and erythrocytes, has made it possible to obtain large numbers of parasitized erythrocytes for studying the biology of this parasite.
巴贝斯虫及其近亲属于一组被称为梨形虫的生物体，这个名字源于它们梨形的外形。巴贝斯虫属的成员长期以来与牛和其他哺乳动物的血液疾病有关，自20世纪50年代以来，它们被公认为人类的感染源。这种原生动物血液寄生虫的物种，通常从小鼠（微小巴贝斯虫）或牛（分歧巴贝斯虫）中分离出来，也已从人类中分离出来。除了这些常见的物种外，新分离出的难以归入现有分类类别的菌株，是基于测序数据重新思考它们系统发育关系的基础。这种寄生虫对血液供应安全构成威胁，因为无症状人类的血液可以将巴贝斯虫传播给输血者。这样的传播已经发生。培养这些生物体方法的发展，为研究它们的生物学特性和疾病潜力提供了重要机会。此外，体外培养为研究哺乳动物对这些感染源的免疫反应提供了基础，希望最终能产生减毒株，可用于给牛以及可能生活在流行地区的人类进行免疫接种。微需氧静止期培养技术，使用补充了适当血清和红细胞的组织培养基基础，使得获得大量被寄生的红细胞用于研究这种寄生虫的生物学特性成为可能。
