Enzyme typing of Plasmodium falciparum from African and some other Old World countries.

Freeze-dried and freshly cultured isolates of Plasmodium falciparum from different countries have been examined for variation in six enzymes, GPI, PGD, LDH, GDH, ADA and PEPE, using starch gel electrophoresis. Variant forms of each enzyme occur. For most enzymes, similar forms occur in isolates from different parts of the world, although differences in frequencies of each form are found. LDH-2 has been found only in African isolates. PEPE variants vary markedly in their frequency between East and West Africa, although further work is needed to confirm this finding.