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- Title
Endothelin in a Murine Model of Cerebral Malaria.
- Authors
Machado, Fabiana S.; Desruisseaux, Mahalia S.; Nagajyothi; Kennan, Richard P.; Hetherington, Hoby P.; Wittner, Murray; Weiss, Louis M.; Lee, Sunhee C.; Scherer, Philipp E.; Tsuji, Moriya; Tanowitz, Herbert B.
- Abstract
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 bof 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.
- Publication
Experimental Biology & Medicine, 2006, Vol 231, Issue 6, p1176
- ISSN
1535-3702
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3181/00379727-232-2311176