Type-1 diabetes mellitus down-regulated local cerebral glial fibrillary acidic protein expression in experimental toxoplasmosis

Theodor Bilharz Research Institute

Bibliographic Information

Authors: Abdelhamid G.A.; Abdelaal A.A.; Shalaby M.A.; Fahmy M.-E.A.; Badawi M.A.; Afife A.A.; Fadl H.O.

Journal: Journal of Parasitic Diseases

Publisher: Springer

Publication Date: 18 March 2023

Volume / Issue: Volume 47 / Issue 2

Pages: 319–328

ISSN: 9717196

DOI: 10.1007/s12639-023-01573-y

Scopus: View on Scopus

Document Type: Article

Access: All Open Access; Green Open Access

Authors and Affiliations

Abdelhamid G.A., Medical Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt; Abdelaal A.A., Medical Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, Medical Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Armed Forces College of Medicine, (AFCM), Cairo, Egypt; Shalaby M.A., Medical Parasitology Department, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute (TBRI), Giza, Egypt; Fahmy M.-E.A., Medical Parasitology Department, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute (TBRI), Giza, Egypt; Badawi M.A., Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, National Research Institute, Giza, Egypt; Afife A.A., College of Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Leicester University, Leicester, United Kingdom; Fadl H.O., Medical Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Cerebral toxoplasmosis is an opportunistic infection, occurring mostly in immunosuppressed patients due to the reactivation of latent Toxoplasma cysts. The cerebral comorbidity in diabetic patients tends to intensify the burden of pathogenic infection within the brain. The aim of this work was to study the effect of cerebral toxoplasmosis in experimentally infected hyperglycemic mice, on histopathology and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression, compared to normoglycemic mice at different time intervals. Vasculopathy was exclusively observed in diabetic groups, with features of increased severity during Toxoplasma infection. Gliosis was observed in diabetic groups, while hyperactive astroglial activity was detected in normoglycemic groups, especially at 6 weeks of infection. GFAP expression showed significant up-regulation in normoglycemic mice at 6 weeks of infection (40.03 ± 1.41) afterwards, it decreased to 22.22 ± 3.14 at 12 weeks which was statistically insignificant to the normal level, possibly indicating the successful Toxoplasma stage transformation (to bradyzoite), thereby limiting the infection within the brain. In hyperglycemic infected groups, GFAP was significantly down-regulated, in both acute and chronic phases of infection, most likely indicating failure of stage transformation and infection limitation. This may expose those vulnerable groups to the risk of dissemination, resulting in life-threatening diffuse encephalitis. The current study emphasized the importance of rapid diagnosis of Toxoplasma infection in diabetic subjects, and highlighted the value of using GFAP as a neurological indicator of disease progression in those comorbid cases. © 2023, Indian Society for Parasitology.

Keywords

Brain; Diabetes mellitus; Glial fibrillary acidic protein; Toxoplasma gondii; streptozocin; animal experiment; animal model; animal tissue; Article; cerebral toxoplasmosis; controlled study; diabetic patient; down regulation; encephalitis; euthanasia; experimental toxoplasmosis; gliosis; glucose blood level; histopathology; hyperglycemia; immunohistochemistry; insulin dependent diabetes mellitus; male; mouse; nonhuman; protein expression; upregulation; vascular disease

Citation Information

Scopus Citations: 3

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