Trypanosoma evansi: Concentration of 3-nitrotyrosine in the brain of infected rats

• Published in: Experimental parasitology 2011-09, Vol.129 (1), p.27-30
• Main Authors: Paim, Francine C., Da Silva, Aleksandro S., Wolkmer, Patrícia, Costa, Márcio M., Da Silva, Cássia B., Paim, Carlos B.V., Oliveira, Mauro S., Silva, Luiz F.A., Mello, Carlos F., Monteiro, Silvia G., Mazzanti, Cinthia M.A., Lopes, Sonia T.A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; blood pressure; Brain - metabolism; Case-Control Studies; cerebellum; Cerebellum - chemistry; cerebral cortex; Cerebral Cortex - chemistry; CNS; Corpus Striatum - chemistry; cryopreservation; Dogs; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; hippocampus; Hippocampus - chemistry; Inflammatory processes; isoflurane; Life cycle. Host-agent relationship. Pathogenesis; neoplasm cells; neutrophils; Nitric oxide; parasitemia; Parasitemia - metabolism; Parasitemia - parasitology; parasites; parasitology; Protozoa; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Trypanosoma evansi; Trypanosomiasis - metabolism; Trypanosomiasis - parasitology; trypomastigotes; Typanosomosis; Tyrosine - analogs & derivatives; Tyrosine - analysis
• ISSN: 0014-4894; 1090-2449
• DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2011.05.024

[Display omitted] ► Trypanosoma evansi is a flagellate protozoan can cause neurological disorders in horses and cattle. ► The biological roles of nitric oxide (NO) in physiologic processes are many, such as neurotransmission and immune system. ► Excessive production of NO can cause neurotoxicity, as well as neurological signs observed in Trypanosomosis. ► The indirect determination of NO can be made by the detection of residues of 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT). ► Infection with T. evansi causes changes in the concentrations of protein 3-NT in the CNS of rats. ► The increase of 3-NT may be related to inflammation and control of parasitemia at low levels. Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in many physiological processes, such as blood pressure control, neurotransmission, inhibition of platelet and neutrophil adherence, and the ability to kill tumor cells and parasites. The indirect determination of NO can be made by detection of 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) residues. The aim of this study was to measure the concentration of 3-NT in the brain of rats experimentally infected with Trypanosoma evansi. Twenty-four were inoculated intraperitoneally with cryopreserved blood containing 1×106 trypomastigotes per animal. Twenty-four animals were used as negative controls and received 0.2mL of saline by the same route. The experimental groups (group C and T) were established according to the time after infection and the degree of parasitemia as follows: four control subgroups (C3, C5, C10 and C20) with six non-inoculated animals each and four test subgroups (T3, T5, T10 and T20) with six animals infected with T. evansi in each group. The animals were anesthetized with isoflurane and subsequently euthanized at the days 3 (C3, T3), 5 (C5, T5), 10 (C10, T10) and 20 (C20, T20) post-infection (PI). The brain was removed and dissected into cerebellum, cerebral cortex, striatum and hippocampus. Concentration of 3-NT in the brain was determined by Slot blot technique. At the day 3 PI no changes were observed in the concentration of 3-NT among the groups. There was a significant reduction (p