Abstract
Hamsters infected with Plasmodium berghei and treated with normal rabbit serum died 6-10 days after infection at a time when they had relatively low parasite rates. This acute death was associated with multiple petechial haemorrhages throughout the brain and was prevented by the administration of antithymocyte serum. Hamsters treated with antithymocyte serum died 12-16 days after infection and did not develop cerebral haemorrhages. It is postulated that the cerebral haemorrhages result from micro-embolisation of capillaries by agglutinated red cells and that antithymocyte serum inhibits or depresses the production of the responsible agglutinin.
Young rats infected with Plasmodium berghei died with high parasite rates 2-3 weeks after infection. Antithymocyte serum had no effect on the course of infection in these animals nor on their survival.
The similarity of the cerebral lesions seen in hamsters to the lesions of human cerebral malaria is discussed.
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