Plasmodium berghei: Folic acid levels in mouse erythrocytes

Folate levels of parasitized whole blood increased over fourfold above noninfected controls based on microbiological assays with Lactobacillus casei. Most of this increase is attributed to oxidized forms of folate (mono-, di-, and triglutamates) and/or N 5 -methyltetra-hydropteroyl mono-, di-, and triglutamates. Assays with Pediococcus cerevisiae showed that levels of tetrahydro-forms of folate polyglutamates doubled during parasitization of mouse erythrocytes. The folate activity for Lactobacillus casei after conjugase treatment was about 1.5 times as high for infected as for uninfected blood. During the malarial infection there was more a change in the form of folate than in its overall level.