The effects of bistratene A on the development of Plasmodium falciparum in culture

The effects of the marine ascidian compound bistratene A on in vitro cultures of Plasmodium falciparum were assessed. Concentrations from 0 to 1.5 mu g ml(-1) of the compound were tested. The parasitaemia in asynchronous cultures treated with bistratene A increased normally over the first 40 h, then decreased leaving only gametocytes. When synchronized cultures were treated with a constant dose of 50 ng ml(-1), gametocytes developed more rapidly than they did in control cultures. In addition, gametocytes developed in drug-treated cultures of P. falciparum that normally do not produce gametocytes. Bistratene A appears to inhibit merozoite invasion as well as to induce gametocytogenesis.