Institute of Medicine, Department of Parasitology, Chung Shan Medical University, and Clinical Laboratory, Chung Shan University Hospital, Taichung 402, Taiwan.
Vet Parasitol. 2010 Jul 15;171(1-2):74-80. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.03.019. Epub 2010 Mar 30.
Angiostrongylus cantonensis causes eosinophilic meningitis or meningoencephalitis, yet little is known about demyelination caused by this parasite. To define the course of demyelination caused by A. cantonensis, we analyzed the expression of myelin proteins including myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG), myelin basic protein (MBP), myelin-associated oligodendrocytic basic protein (MOBP), and proteolipid protein (PLP) in brain and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-like fluid of infected and uninfected BALB/c mice. In A. cantonensis-infected mice, the expression of MAG, MBP, MOBP, and PLP mRNAs in brain tissue was decreased, while expression of the corresponding proteins was significantly increased in CSF-like fluid. Light microscopy revealed perivascular infiltrates in the brain during meningoencephalitis, suggesting that the cause of demyelination in angiostrongyliasis was immune system attack on the oligodendrocytic myelin sheath and subsequent release of myelin proteins into the CSF. Thus, intracerebral myelin breakdown in angiostrongyliasis may be a response to inflammatory mediators and the cause of increased myelin proteins in the CSF-like fluid.
广东血管圆线虫可引起嗜酸性粒细胞性脑膜炎或脑膜脑炎，但人们对该寄生虫引起的脱髓鞘知之甚少。为了明确广东血管圆线虫引起的脱髓鞘过程，我们分析了脑和感染及未感染 BALB/c 小鼠脑脊液样液中髓鞘蛋白的表达，包括髓鞘相关糖蛋白（MAG）、髓鞘碱性蛋白（MBP）、髓鞘少突胶质细胞糖蛋白（MOBP）和蛋白脂质蛋白（PLP）。在广东血管圆线虫感染的小鼠中，脑组织中 MAG、MBP、MOBP 和 PLP mRNA 的表达降低，而相应蛋白在脑脊液样液中的表达显著增加。光镜下可见脑膜脑炎时血管周围有浸润，提示血管圆线虫病中的脱髓鞘是免疫系统攻击少突胶质细胞的髓鞘，随后髓鞘蛋白释放到脑脊液中所致。因此，血管圆线虫病中的脑内髓鞘破坏可能是对炎症介质的反应，也是脑脊液样液中髓鞘蛋白增加的原因。
