Continuous cultivation and improved drug responsiveness of Plasmodium falciparum in p-aminobenzoic acid-deficient medium.

Long term cultivation of three culture lines of Plasmodium falciparum was achieved in Waymouth and RPMI media, both supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated human serum. Observations on parasite multiplication over a 6-mo period showed no difference in the rate of parasite population increase. Growth of asexual erythrocytic stages in Waymouth medium was as good as that in RPMI when measured by the rate of glucose utilization and extent of 3H-isoleucine and 3H-methionine incorporation. Responsiveness of the parasites to pyrimethamine and sulfadoxine was demonstrated to increase when tested in Waymouth medium because it contained no p-aminobenzoic acid to compete with the drugs.