Intracellular replication of Leishmania tropica in mouse peritoneal macrophages: comparison of amastigote replication in adherent and nonadherent macrophages

Abstract

Intracellular replication of Leishmania tropica was assessed in mouse peritoneal macrophage cultures. L. tropica replicated poorly in macrophage monolayers: both the percentage of cells infected and the number of intracellular amastigotes decreased with time in culture. In contrast, nonadherent macrophages supported continuous replication of the parasite, and intracellular amastigotes increased more than 10-fold in these cultures over 8 days.