Abstract
Summary
Intraperitoneal inoculation of toxoplasma into rats yielded the following data. Organisms were shown to be present in the blood 4 hours after inoculation and daily thereafter for the next week. The maximal concentration was reached between the fourth and fifth days. Organisms were found sporadically during the next few weeks. Parasites were present in small numbers in the liver, spleen and lungs at 4 hours but were more regularly found after that for 7 days in the liver, 9 days in the spleen and 11 days in the lungs. They were less regularly found after these periods of time for 10 weeks in the liver and lungs and for 2 weeks in the spleen. Toxoplasma appeared in the brain at 4 days and were uniformly present thereafter for a period of 2 years, which was the longest interval of time that the tissue was examined. Intraperitoneal inoculation of rats is a convenient method to maintain the parasites indefinitely.
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