Brain histomorphology in protein deprived rhesus monkeys with fatal malarial infection.

Healthy and protein deprived rhesus monkeys were inoculated with a virulent strain of Plasmodium knowlesi, to determine the morphological changes in the brain and to establish whether this model could be utilised as an experimental model for cerebral malaria. The histomorphological changes produced in the brain did not correspond with the changes conforming to those of cerebral malaria. The changes observed in healthy controls were cerebral oedema, high percentage of parasitised RBCs in the cerebral capillaries, with prominent and, at places, disrupted endothelium. In the protein deprived animals, cerebral oedema was the only conspicuous feature. It appears that the P. knowlesi-rhesus monkey combination is not suitable as an experimental model for cerebral malaria.