Trypanosoma duttoni: Oxygen uptake by liver slices of normal and pantothenate-deficient mice

1975

Ten experiments were performed to compare mitotic activity in livers of rats infected with Trypanosoma rhodesiense and Trypanosoma lewisi. The host dietary groups were: (1) complete of full complement; (2) folic acid deficient, and (3) pair-fed or calorically restricted. Liver mitotic counts of T. lewisi-infected rats fed complete and pair-fed control diets showed a high degree of significance over that of control rats. From days 35 to 55, liver mitotic counts of T. lewisi-infected rats deficient in folic acid showed an average of 16 +/- 2 mitotic phases as compared to 9 +/- 2 for livers of uninfected animals. Liver mitotic counts of T. rhodesiense-infected and non-infected rats fed complete and pair-fed control diets showed that there were essentially no differences in the mitotic counts from that seen in liver from control, uninfected animals. On day 25 (day 5 of infection), folic acid-deficient infected rats showed a significantly higher number of dividing cells than the controls. Folate was measured in isolated, washed T. lewisi and T. rhodesiense cells. T. lewisi and T. rhodesiense contained 9.6 ng folate per 10(8) cells and 6.2 ng of folate per 10(8) cells respectively. Metabolic products of T. lewisi contained an average of 0.51 ng of folate per 10(8) trypanosomes. T. rhodesiense metabolic products contained 0.3 ng of folate per 10(8) trypanosomes.

Trypanosoma lewisi, Trypanosoma rhodesiense: Mitotic activity in normal and folic acid deficient rats

Aboko-Cole

1975

Ultrastructure of Trypanosoma duttoni

Watson

1975

Trypanosoma duttoni exhibits the typical trypanosome morphology in that it is bounded by a unit membrane which included its anterior flagellum; it is surrounded by a framework of suppellicular fibrils, and it contains a nucleus and the posteriorly located kinetoplast-blepharoplast structures along with cytoplasmic organelles (mitochondria, Golgi, and enoplasmic reticulum). Very prominently displayed in T. duttoni is the contractile vacuole, which has not previously received wide-spread recognition. The kinetoplast is clearly continuous with mitochondria in some cases. Inclusion bodies are categorized into three distinct types, none of which can be conclusively designated as the very popular volutin granules, without cytochemical evidence. The existence of a third tubule among peripheral tubule doublets of the flagellum is observed.

Interaction of nutrition and infection:Trypanosoma lewisi, folic acid levels in sera and tissues of normal and folic acid-deficient rats

Aboko-Cole

1974

Summary. Progressive changes in folic acid levels in sera and tissues of rats infected with Trypanosoma lewisi are described. The host dietary groups were: (1) complete or full complement; (2) folie acid-deficient, and (3) pair-fed or calorically restricted.Serum folate values of rats on a folic acid complete diet and pair-fed diet and inoculated on Day 21, showed significantly higher values than the controls between Days 35 and 45. The average serum folate values in adequately fed control rats was 16--3ng/ml as opposed to 20--3ng/ml for trypanosomc-infected rats. Animals inoculated on Day 56 had higher folate values than control rats from Day 65 to Day 80. Serum folate content of deficient rats infected on Days 21 and 56 was significantly higher than the controls on Days 30 to 60 and 61) to 100. respectively.The livers of rats fed a folic complete and a pair-fed diet and inoculated on Days 21 and 56 with T. lewisi showed no significant difference in folate content when compared with the uninfected rats.Livers of folic acid-deficient rats infected with T. lewisi on Days 21 and 56 showed statistically significant increases over the controls from the 10th day of infection. Infected animals had 200% more folate than controls.Irrespective of diet and time of inoculation (Day 21 or 56), the folic acid content of brains and spinal cords of rats infected with T. leu'isi were not significantly different from that of the controls.