Neospora caninum: high susceptibility to the parasite in C57BL/10ScCr mice

• Author(s): Botelho, A. S. ; Teixeira, L. ; Costa, J. M. Correia da ; Faustino, A. M. R. ; Castro, António G. ; Vilanova, M.
• Date: 2007
• Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/48381
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Neospora caninum acute infection; Apicomplexa; C57BL/10 ScCr (ScCr) mice; C57BL/10 ScSn (ScSn) mice; NcT; Neospora caninum tachyzoites; IFN-γ, interferon-γ; IL-4, interleukin-4; IL-12, interleukin-12; TLR4, Toll-like receptor 4; IL-12R, IL-12 receptor; Th1, T helper 1; PBS, phosphate-buVered saline; RNA, ribonucleic acid; DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid; mRNA, messenger ribonucleic acid; cDNA, RNA to complementary DNA; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; HPRT, hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase; dNTPs, deoxynucleotide triphosphate mix; interferon-gamma; interleukin-4; interleukin-12; toll-like receptor 4; IL-12 receptor; T helper 1; phosphate-buffered saline; ribonucleic acid; deoxyribonucleic acid; messenger ribonucleic acid; polymerase chain reaction; hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase; deoxynucleotide triphosphate mix; cDNA; DNA; dNTPs; HPRT; IFN-?; IL-12; IL-12R; IL-4; interferon-?; mRNA; PBS; PCR; RNA; RNA to complementary DNA; Th1; TLR4; IFN-γ; interferon-γ
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: English
• Contributor(s): Universidade do Minho

Description

C57BL/10ScCr mice, lack Toll-like receptor 4 and a functional Interleukin-12 receptor. Taking this into account, susceptibility of these mice to Neospora caninum infection was assessed comparatively to that of immunocompetent C57BL/10ScSn mice. C57BL/10ScCr mice inoculated intraperitoneally with 5 x 10(5) N. caninum tachyzoites showed a high Susceptibility to this parasite. All infected C57BL/10ScCr mice were dead by day 8 post-infection whereas all control C57BL/10ScSn mice survived this parasitic challenge. Immunohistochemical analysis of infected C57BL/10ScCr mice showed N. caninum tachyzoites spread in the pancreas, liver, lung, intestine, heart and brain whereas no parasites were detected in similarly infected C57BL/10ScSn controls. The higher susceptibility of C57BL/10ScCr mice to neosporosis correlates with reduced interferon-gamma mRNA expression and increased IL-4 mRNA expression, comparatively to C57BL/10ScSn controls, detected in the spleen after the parasitic challenge. C57BL/10ScCr mice could thus be used as a new experimental model where to study immunobiological mechanisms associated with host Susceptibility to neosporosis.