The effect of a milk diet uponPlasmodium berghei, Nuttallia (=Babesia) rodhainiandTrypanosoma bruceiinfections in mice

Abstract

Suppression ofP. bergheiinfections but not those ofN. rodhainiorT. bruceiin mice on milk diet were noted. The suppression ofP. bergheiwas variable. This was not due to differences of the quality of the milk or to the mice eating faeces, sawdust, etc. which may be rich in PABA. The variability was at least partially due to selection of a strain of parasite probably requiring a lower level of PABA than normal. One such strain was isolated and its pattern of infection compared with the normal strain. The ‘milk diet’ strain caused a higher fatality rate in mice on milk diet but always showed a lower parasitaemia growth rate in mice on normal diet. When repassaged through mice on normal diet, the ‘milk diet’ strain did not revert immediately to the infection pattern of the normal strain.