Experimental benznidazole treatment of Trypanosoma cruzi II strains isolated from children of the Jequitinhonha Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil, with Chagas disease.

Trypanosoma cruzi strains from distinct geographic areas show differences in drug resistance and association between parasites genetic and treatment response has been observed. Considering that benznidazole (BZ) can reduce the parasite burden and tissues damage, even in not cured animals and individuals, the goal is to assess the drug response to BZ of T. cruzi II strains isolated from children of the Jequitinhonha Valley, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, before treatment. Mice infected and treated with BZ in both phases of infection were compared with the untreated and evaluated by fresh blood examination, haemoculture, polymerase chain reaction, conventional (ELISA) and non-conventional (FC-ALTA) serologies. In mice treated in the acute phase, a significant decrease in parasitaemia was observed for all strains. Positive parasitological and/or serological tests in animals treated during the acute and chronic (95.1-100%) phases showed that most of the strains were BZ resistant. However, beneficial effect was demonstrated because significant reduction (p < 0.05%) and/or suppression of parasitaemia was observed in mice infected with all strains (acute phase), associated to reduction/elimination of inflammation and fibrosis for two/eight strains. BZ offered some benefit, even in not cured animals, what suggest that BZ use may be recommended at least for recent chronic infection of the studied region

Resveratrol acts anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective in an infant rat model of pneumococcal meningitis by modulating the hippocampal miRNome.

Resveratrol (RSV) is anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective, cross the blood?brain barrier (BBB) and has a safe profile. Besides, RSV modulates the expression of some miRNAs related to neurological disorders. Thus, we hypothesized that RSV can be neuroprotective in pneumococcal meningitis by modulating the global microRNA expression profile (miRNome). Eleven-day old rats were intracysternally infected with S. pneumoniae (~?2???106 c.f.u.) and were orally administered with RSV (50 mg/kg) or vehicle in pre-treatment (before infection) or post-treatment schedules (3 and 18 h p.i.). At 24 h p.i., animals were euthanized and apoptotic cells were counted in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of the right brain hemispheres. The hippocampi from left hemispheres were used for cytokines and chemokines multiplex assay and miRNome profiling with TaqMan OpenArray Rodent MicroRNA. Infected rats treated with RSV had lower apoptotic scores and IL-1?, CCL2, and CCL3 levels when compared to the infected group receiving placebo. Seven miRNAs were down regulated, and 18 were up regulated by pneumococcal acute meningitis. Thirty-seven miRNAs were down regulated, and three were up regulated (hsa-miR-15b-5p, hsa-miR-25-3p, hsa-miR-125b-5p) by the interaction between meningitis and RSV. Pathway enriched analysis revealed that meningitis and RSV modulate the expression of miRNAs targeting critical pathways related to the pathophysiology of bacterial meningitis. Nevertheless, hsa-miR-25-3p and hsa-miR-125b-5p target the transcription factor TEF-1, for which there are binding sites in Il-1?, Ccl2, and Ccl3 genes. RSV is anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective in an infant rat model of pneumococcal meningitis and these positive effects involve the modulation of the hippocampal miRNome

Plasmodium berghei NK65 induces cerebral leukocyte recruitment in vivo : an intravital microscopic study.

Malaria is second only to tuberculosis as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality as a consequence of a single infectious agent. Much of the pathology of malaria arises from the inappropriate or excessive immune response mounted by the host in an attempt to eliminate the parasite. We here report the inflammatory changes observed in the cerebral microvasculature of C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice that had been inoculated with Plasmodium berghei NK65, a lethal strain of rodent malaria. Although no neurological signs were observed in experimentally infected mice, inflammation of the cerebral microvasculature was clearly evident. Histopathological analysis demonstrated that alterations in cerebral tissue were more intense in infected C57Bl/6 mice than in infected BALB/c animals. Intravital microscopic examination of the cerebral microvasculature revealed increased leukocyte rolling and adhesion in pial venules of infected mice compared with non-infected animals. The extravasation of Evans blue dye into the cerebral parenchyma was also elevated in infected mice in comparison with their non-infected counterparts. Additionally, protein levels of TNF-_, MIG/CXCL9, MCP-1/CCL2, MIP-1_/CCL3 and RANTES/CCL5 were up-regulated in brain samples derived from infected C57Bl/6 mice. Taken together, the data reported here illustrate the complex strain-dependent relationships between leukocyte recruitment, blood brain barrier permeability and chemokine production