Department of Neurology, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), University Hospital Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Neurobiol Aging. 2010 Oct;31(10):1766-73. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2008.09.022. Epub 2008 Nov 22.
The presence of Chlamydia pneumoniae in murine brain tissue was studied in atherosclerotic and non-atherosclerotic mice, after peritoneal injection. Furthermore, we investigated whether increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier was implicated in cerebral C. pneumoniae infection and whether intra-cerebral C. pneumoniae infection leads to microglial activation. Using a polymerase chain reaction, C. pneumoniae DNA was found in the brain tissue of 33% of the mice, 3, 7 and 21 days after infection. Atherosclerosis and age does not influence the extend of the cerebral infection. Semiquantitative analyses showed that intra-cerebral C. pneumoniae infection was not accompanied by an altered function of the blood-brain barrier. Microglial activation was assessed with immunohistochemistry, quantified in the hippocampus of each infected mouse and compared with mock infected. Enhanced microglial activation was found in the atherosclerotic mice. Since microglial activation is a key factor in a number of neuroinflammatory diseases, C. pneumoniae infection might play a role in these diseases.
我们研究了经腹腔注射肺炎衣原体后，在动脉粥样硬化和非动脉粥样硬化小鼠的鼠脑组织中是否存在肺炎衣原体。此外，我们还研究了血脑屏障通透性的增加是否与脑内肺炎衣原体感染有关，以及脑内肺炎衣原体感染是否会导致小胶质细胞激活。使用聚合酶链反应，我们发现感染后 3、7 和 21 天，33%的小鼠脑组织中存在肺炎衣原体 DNA。动脉粥样硬化和年龄并不影响大脑感染的范围。半定量分析表明，脑内肺炎衣原体感染并不伴有血脑屏障功能的改变。通过免疫组织化学评估小胶质细胞的激活，对每个感染小鼠的海马体进行量化，并与模拟感染进行比较。在动脉粥样硬化小鼠中发现了增强的小胶质细胞激活。由于小胶质细胞激活是许多神经炎症性疾病的关键因素，肺炎衣原体感染可能在这些疾病中发挥作用。
