[The virulence, metacyclogenesis and respiratory enzymes of Leishmania isolated in culture from laboratory animals]. / Virulentnost', metatsiklogenez i dykhatel'nye fermenty leishmanii, vydelennykh v kul'turu ot laboratornykh zhivotnykh.

It has been shown that an increase of virulence of Leishmania major, L. tropica, L. braziliensis as a result of passing through animals and its decrease during the cultivation are accompanied by certain changes of biochemical characteristics of these promastigotes. In the former case the activity of NADP-H-diaphorase and peroxidase of promastigotes and their ability to be transformed into final (invasional) metacyclic forms increase and in the latter case these characteristics decrease. The level and duration of virulence in culture depend not only on absolute value of the above-mentioned characteristics but also on the graduality of their change. Metacyclogenesis and activity of oxidative enzymes are suggested to be the correlates of virulence of various Leishmania species.

[The virulence and cytochemical properties of Leishmania major during long-term cultivation]. / Virulentnost' i nekotorye tsitokhimicheskie kharakteristiki Leishmania major v protsesse dlitel'nogo kul'tivirovaniia.

It has been shown that morphogenesis of Leishmania major in each culture passage is characterised by the depletion of RNA and increase in its dispersion degree, by the change of the NADP-H-diaphorese, peroxidase and Janus green-B-oxidative activity in the promastigotes. Cytochemical peculiarities of invasive metacyclic promastigotes are an extreme depletion of RNA, its disperse form, a low activity of oxidative enzymes. This properties may manifest the pre-adaptation of Leishmania promastigotes to the development in vertebrate host. In the process of long-term cultivation of L. major the virulence, the metacyclogenesis, and the level of NADF-H-diaphorase and peroxidase activity decrease from passage to passage, but the ability to oxidate the Janus green-B increases.