Comparative analysis of gestational outcomes in different substrains of C57BL/6 mice infected with P.berghei NK65.

• Grant number: 23/05105-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2023
• End date: December 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Protozoology of Parasites
• Principal Investigator: Cláudio Romero Farias Marinho
• Grantee: Bruna Puzzi Daineze
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Malaria represents a public health problem in most tropical countries, with high incidence and mortality rates,and with pregnant women being a risk group for the disease. During pregnancy, infection with Plasmodium falciparum induce the increase of prematurity and maternal and fetal mortality, in addition to intrauterine growth restriction, which leads to low birth weight.In this context, the use of experimental murine models has become an excellent alternative for studying the pathogenesis of the disease. The C57BL/6 lineage is the most frequent in these models, however, its maintenance and commercialization by several institutions, over the years, resulted in the emergence of sublines with genetic and phenotypic differences. These differences, in some experimental models, have been shown to directly affect the development, evolution and severity of malaria; the importance of the genetic background used is emphasized. In this way, understanding the differences between the underlinings is fundamental for experimental production and rigor in scientific research. Therefore, this project aims to compare the development of severe gestational outcomes associated with gestational malaria in different C57BL/6 sublines, using an experimental murine model developed by our research group.