The experimental chemotherapy of leishmaniasis. I: Techniques for the study of drug action in tissue culture.

Three lines of Leishmania have been grown successfully in tissue culture. L. mexicana mexicana, L.tropica major and L. donovani develop readily as amastigotes in dog sarcoma cells, and in a hamster peritoneal exudate cell line. The procedures used for cultivating both host cells and parasites are described, as are the methods employed for studying the senitivity of the parasites and hosts to drugs. It is concluded that the use of a tissue culture system is a valid way of determining the baseline sensitivity of a Leishmania to chemotherapy and the limitations of the technique are discussed. Illustrative data are presented of the response of two Leishmania species to amphotericin B and to a quinine analogue. L. mexicana mexicana is highly sensitive to amphotericin B and the response is shown to be consistent in duplicate experiments. L. mexicana mexicana and L. donovani are shown to have a different innate sensitivity to the quinine analogue.