Characterization of lipidous antigens derived from erythrocytes infected with Plasmodium berghei.

A lipid extract obtained from reticulocyte membranes of Plasmodium berghei-infected rats showed antigenic activity against sera from convalescent or immune rats. Following chromatography on silicic acid column, 85% of the activity was recovered from the column with chloroform:methanol (1:3, vol/vol). The active fraction was further resolved by thin layer chromatography (TLC) into four lipid components, two sugar-containing components and two phosphorous-containing components, but neither the individual components nor various combinations of the components showed antigenic activity after elution from the TLC plate. The immunological activity was not affected by phospholipase A2 treatment.