Babesia parasites inhabit red blood cells and proliferate in high-oxygen environments.
"unless you happen to have Babesia as an infection, then it's maybe not the best idea because they love oxygen. Babesia loves oxygen, right? It lives in red blood cells and they love oxygen." (said at 0:46:40)
The speaker claims that *Babesia* parasites "love oxygen" and proliferate in high-oxygen environments. While *Babesia* species are intraerythrocytic parasites that infect red blood cells, in vitro culture studies show that *Babesia* organisms are microaerophilic—meaning they require reduced oxygen concentrations (typically 2% to 5% O2) rather than high-oxygen environments for optimal continuous cultivation. Elevated oxygen concentrations and reactive oxygen intermediates (such as superoxide anions, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl radicals) exert cytotoxic/babesiacidal effects on *Babesia* parasites.
- contradicts: In vitro cultivation of Babesia bigemina. (American journal of veterinary research 1985)
"Culture conditions included washing of infected and normal bovine erythrocytes in a special solution, and the use of a 5% to 10% (v/v) erythrocyte suspension in medium 199 (with 20% to 50% fresh normal bovine serum) at a depth of 4 mm in a 5% CO2, 2% O2, 93% N2 atmosphere." (abstract, passage verified)
pubmed - contradicts: Babesia bovis: continuous cultivation in a microaerophilous stationary phase culture. (Science (New York, N.Y.) 1980)
"Lowered oxygen tension within the layer of host erythrocytes results in a darkening of infected cultures and provides a rapid means of evaluating parasite growth." (abstract, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - contradicts: Reactive oxygen and nitrogen intermediates and products from polyamine degradation are Bab… (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1996)
"Xanthine degradation by xanthine oxidase leads to the formation of superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl radicals. The degradation in the presence of B. bovis was toxic to the parasite." (abstract, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)