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Pal AC, Renard I, Singh P, Vydyam P, Chiu JE, Pou S, Winter RW, Dodean R, Frueh L, Nilsen AC, Riscoe MK, Doggett JS, Ben Mamoun C. Babesia duncani as a Model Organism to Study the Development, Virulence, and Drug Susceptibility of Intraerythrocytic Parasites In Vitro and In Vivo. J Infect Dis 2022; 226:1267-1275. [PMID: 35512141 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiac181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Human babesiosis is a malaria-like illness caused by tick-borne intraerythrocytic Babesia parasites of the Apicomplexa phylum. Whereas several species of Babesia can cause severe disease in humans, the ability to propagate Babesia duncani both in vitro in human erythrocytes and in mice makes it a unique pathogen to study Babesia biology and pathogenesis. Here we report an optimized B. duncani in culture-in mouse (ICIM) model that combines continuous in vitro culture of the parasite with a precise model of lethal infection in mice. We demonstrate that B. duncani-infected erythrocytes as well as free merozoites can cause lethal infection in C3H/HeJ mice. Highly reproducible parasitemia and survival outcomes could be established using specific parasite loads in different mouse genetic backgrounds. Using the ICIM model, we discovered 2 new endochin-like quinolone prodrugs (ELQ-331 and ELQ-468) that alone or in combination with atovaquone are highly efficacious against B. duncani and Babesia microti.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anasuya C Pal
- Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Isaline Renard
- Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Pallavi Singh
- Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Pratap Vydyam
- Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Joy E Chiu
- Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Sovitj Pou
- Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Rolf W Winter
- Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Rozalia Dodean
- Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Lisa Frueh
- Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Aaron C Nilsen
- Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Michael K Riscoe
- Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - J Stone Doggett
- Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Choukri Ben Mamoun
- Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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