[Stain hybridization method with pRepHind probe for the diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum].

A study was conducted on the parasitemia detection level and the specificity of the pRepHind DNA probe for diagnosing Plasmodium falciparum by the stain hybridization method. The parasitemia detection level was studied by using dilutions of a P. falciparum in vitro culture, adjusted by direct microscopic examination to 1; 0.1; 0.01; 0.001; 0.0001 and 0.00001% of parasited red cells. Specificity was increased by using DNA extractions from P. Yoelii, P. berghei and human leucocytes. The results showed that the method was able to detect 0.0001% of parasitemia starting from DNA extractions of 100 L infected red cells. The pRepHind probe only detected specifically DNA from P. falciparum. It is concluded that the method is suitable for being used in the diagnosis of infection due to P. falciparum.