The influence of cell type and culture medium on the in vitro cultivation of exoerythrocytic stages of Plasmodium berghei.

Plasmodium berghei sporozoites successfully entered and developed into exoerythrocytic schizonts in a variety of cell types cultured in vitro, but segmentation and release of merozoites was only observed in human embryonic lung cells. Exoerythrocytic development was generally not influenced by the culture medium, and NCTC-135 was used routinely. In vitro infectivity of P. berghei sporozoites was unaffected by the serum type used for isolation.