Plasmodium berghei Infection in BALB/c Mice Model as an Animal Model for Malaria Disease Research

Abstract

Malaria is one of the most important infectious diseases in the world, especially in the developing countries of the tropics. There are many difficulties in malaria research, including in vitro culture of the targeted parasites, in vitro production of mature and infectious gametocytes, and animal models. A rodent malaria parasite model is a promising solution to alleviate the stated problems. These parasites are very similar in physiology, life cycle, and structure to human malaria parasites and could help us understand the biology of human malaria. Creating the genetically modified parasites and specific animal mouse models for distinct human illnesses increases the utility of this approach and pre-evaluation strategy. Among the four rodent malaria parasites, P. berghei is the well-studied parasite.

Keywords: Malaria animal model; Mouse infection; Plasmodium berghei; Rodent malaria.