Richard N. Rossan

Desferrioxamine Suppresses Plasmodium falciparum in Aotus Monkeys

Abstract Clinical observation has suggested that iron deficiency may be protective in malaria, and we have found that desferrioxamine (DF), an iron-specific chelating agent, inhibited Plasmodium falciparum growth in vitro. It was difficult to be confident that DF would be effective in an intact animal, however, because continuous exposure to DF was required in vitro and, in vivo, DF is rapidly excreted. Also, the in vitro effect of DF was overcome by addition of iron to the culture and in vivo there are potentially high local iron concentrations when iron is absorbed from the diet or released from reticuloendothelial cells. We now show that DF given by constant subcutaneous infusion does suppress parasitemia in P. falciparum-infected Aotus monkeys.

Laboratory and feral hybridization ofAteles geoffroyi panamensis Kellogg and Goldman 1944 andA. fusciceps robustus Allen 1914 in Panama

A viable, male progeny resulted from a two-year captive pairing of a male red spider monkey (A. g. panamensis) and a female black spider monkey (A. f. robustus). While the pelage colorations of the parental species are distinctive, the offspring was intermediate in appearance during maturation. Such hybridization apparently occurs naturally in Panama; two feral spider monkeys, captured from an area of sympatry in the Province of Panama east of the Canal Zone, were characteristic of the laboratory cross.

Anatomical distribution of developing trophozoites and schizonts of Plasmodium vivax in Aotus lemurinus lemurinus and Saimiri sciureus.

Organ distribution of developing trophozoite- and schizont-infected erythrocytes of Plasmodium vivax and night monkeys, Aotus lemurinus lemurinus, and squirrel monkeys, Saimiri sciureus, was determined. The primary site for the infection in both species was the splenic vasculature. Secondary organ involvement differed between hosts although some overlapping did occur.