Toxoplasma gondii infection causes morphological changes in caecal myenteric neurons.

Autor: Zaniolo LM; Mestrado em Ciência Animal, Universidade Paranaense, Umuarama, Paraná, Brazil., da Silva AV, Sant'Ana Dde M, Araújo EJ
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Experimental parasitology [Exp Parasitol] 2012 Feb; Vol. 130 (2), pp. 103-9. Date of Electronic Publication: 2011 Dec 22.
DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2011.12.008
Abstrakt: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of chronic infection of Toxoplasma gondii (with genotype I and genotype III strains) on the population density and morphometry of caecal myenteric neurons in rats. Fifteen, 60-day-old, male Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus) were used. The animals were assigned into three groups: Control Group (CG), Experimental Group 1 (EG1) and Experimental Group 2 (EG2). EG1 animals received 10(5) tachyzoites of the genotype I (BTU IV) T. gondii strain orally, and the EG2 animals received 10(5) tachyzoites of the genotype III (BTU II) strain orally. Thirty days after inoculation, caecal whole-mount preparations were stained by Giemsa technique. The caecal preparations were then analysed by assessing the population density and morphometry of myenteric neurons in specific regions of the caecum: mesenteric apical (MA), antimesenteric apical (AA), antimesenteric basal (AB) and next to caecal ampulla (NA). Myenteric neurons from the AA region were more clustered in EG1 animals (P<0.05). The EG1 animals presented a 16.8% reduction in the area of the nucleus, whereas the EG2 animals showed 18.4% increase (P<0.05). There was a more marked reduction in the cytoplasm of the animals in EG1 (↓23.2%) compared to EG2 (↓6.2%). There was 35.8% neuronal atrophy in the AB region and 16.8% in the region NA of the EG1 animals (P<0.05). In conclusion, different strains of T. gondii cause morphometric changes in caecal myenteric neurons of rats. Only the genotype I strain was able to cause neuronal density changes.
(Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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