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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Astrocytic and microglial response and histopathological changes in the brain of horses with experimental chronic Trypanosoma evansi infection

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Author(s):
Lemos, Karen Regina [1] ; Marques, Luiz Carlos [2] ; Cury Thomaz Aquino, Lucia Padilha [3] ; Alessi, Antonio Carlos [3] ; Zacarias, Rosangela Zacarias [3]
Total Authors: 5
Affiliation:
[1] UNICENTRO, DEVET, Dept Vet Med, Gurapuava, PR - Brazil
[2] FCAV UNESP, Dept Clin Med & Cirurg, Jaboticabal, SP - Brazil
[3] FCAV UNESP, Dept Patol Vet, Jaboticabal, SP - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 3
Document type: Journal article
Source: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo; v. 50, n. 4, p. 243-249, JUL-AUG 2008.
Web of Science Citations: 7
Abstract

This study aimed to characterize astrocytic and microglial response in the central nervous system (CNS) of equines experimentally infected with T. evansi. The experimental group comprised males and females with various degrees of crossbreeding, ages between four and seven years. The animals were inoculated intravenously with 10(6) trypomastigotes of T. evansi originally isolated from a naturally infected dog. All equines inoculated with T. evansi were observed until they presented symptoms of CNS disturbance, characterized by motor incoordination of the pelvic limbs, which occurred 67 days after inoculation (DAI) and 124 DAI. The animals in the control group did not present any clinical symptom and were observed up to the 125th DAI. For this purpose the HE histochemical stain and the avidin biotin peroxidase method was used. Lesions in the CNS of experimentally infected horses were those of a wide spread non suppurative meningoencephalomyelitis.The severity of lesions varied in different parts of the nervous system, reflecting an irregular distribution of inflammatory vascular changes. The infiltration of mononuclear cells was associated with anisomorphic gliosis and reactive microglia was identified. The intensity of the astrocytic response in the CNS of the equines infected by T. evansi characterizes the importance of the performance of these cells in this trypanosomiasis. The characteristic gliosis observed in the animals in this experiment suggests the ability of these cells as mediators of immune response. The parasite, T. evansi, was not identified in the nervous tissues. (AU)