TY - JOUR
T1 - Endothelin in a murine model of cerebral malaria
AU - Machado, Fabiana S.
AU - Desruisseaux, Mahalia S.
AU - Nagajyothi,
AU - Kennan, Richard P.
AU - Hetherington, Hoby P.
AU - Wittner, Murray
AU - Weiss, Louis M.
AU - Lee, Sunhee C.
AU - Scherer, Philipp E.
AU - Tsuji, Moriya
AU - Tanowitz, Herbert B.
PY - 2006/6
Y1 - 2006/6
N2 - Cerebral malaria (CM) remains a deadly complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection, and children are at high risk of developing encephalopathy as a result of CM. This is probably a consequence of the activation of many of the inflammatory cytokines as well as the glial cells and the vascular endothelium in the brain. We have previously demonstrated that there is a striking reduction in cerebral blood flow by magnetic resonance imaging when mice are infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA (PbA), and we now demonstrate a possible role for endothelin (ET-1) in the pathogenesis of CM. The brains of female C57BL/6 mice with PbA infection were examined at Day 5 for the expression of ET-1, endothelin converting enzyme (ECE), and the endothelin receptors A and B (ETA and ETB) by both reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative real-time PCR. ET-1 and ECE mRNA expression was markedly increased by RT-PCR in PbA-infected mice. Real-time quantitative PCR demonstrated a 3-fold increase in ET-1 (P < 0.05) and a significant increase in ETA and ETB expression (P , 0.05) in PbA-infected mice. Histopathology of PbA-infected mice demonstrated a transformation in the morphology of microglial cells and clustering of these cells consistent with activation. Though the full impact of ET-1 on CM remains to be elucidated, these findings demonstrate that in the murine model, there is a significant increase in ET-1 and its components, which is associated with the vasculopathy and immunopathology of CM.
AB - Cerebral malaria (CM) remains a deadly complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection, and children are at high risk of developing encephalopathy as a result of CM. This is probably a consequence of the activation of many of the inflammatory cytokines as well as the glial cells and the vascular endothelium in the brain. We have previously demonstrated that there is a striking reduction in cerebral blood flow by magnetic resonance imaging when mice are infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA (PbA), and we now demonstrate a possible role for endothelin (ET-1) in the pathogenesis of CM. The brains of female C57BL/6 mice with PbA infection were examined at Day 5 for the expression of ET-1, endothelin converting enzyme (ECE), and the endothelin receptors A and B (ETA and ETB) by both reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative real-time PCR. ET-1 and ECE mRNA expression was markedly increased by RT-PCR in PbA-infected mice. Real-time quantitative PCR demonstrated a 3-fold increase in ET-1 (P < 0.05) and a significant increase in ETA and ETB expression (P , 0.05) in PbA-infected mice. Histopathology of PbA-infected mice demonstrated a transformation in the morphology of microglial cells and clustering of these cells consistent with activation. Though the full impact of ET-1 on CM remains to be elucidated, these findings demonstrate that in the murine model, there is a significant increase in ET-1 and its components, which is associated with the vasculopathy and immunopathology of CM.
KW - Cerebral blood flow
KW - Cerebral malaria
KW - Endothelin
KW - Magnetic resonance imaging
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M3 - Article
C2 - 16741072
AN - SCOPUS:33744920060
VL - 231
SP - 1176
EP - 1181
JO - Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine (New York, N. Y.)
JF - Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine (New York, N. Y.)
SN - 1535-3702
IS - 6
ER -