El-Sayed Nagwa Mostafa, Aly Eman Mohamed
Department of Medical Parasitology, Research Institute of Ophthalmology, Giza 12556, Egypt.
Department of Basic Science, Biophysics and Laser Science Unit, Research Institute of Ophthalmology, Giza 12556, Egypt.
Int J Ophthalmol. 2014 Jun 18;7(3):431-6. doi: 10.3980/j.issn.2222-3959.2014.03.08. eCollection 2014.
To detect whether Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infection of mice can induce retinal DNA damage.
A total of 20 laboratory-bred male Swiss albino mice were used and divided into four groups: control group (non-infected animals); T. gondii infected group; immunosuppressed infected group; and infected group treated with sulfadiazine and pyrimethamine. Mice eyes were collected 6wk post infection and retinas were obtained. Each retina was immediately processed for comet assay and the frequency of tailed nuclei (DNA damage) was calculated. In addition, retinal DNA damage was revealed by various comet assay parameters that were provided by the image analysis software including tail length, percentage of DNA in the tail, percentage of tailed cells and tail moment.
The obtained results showed that T. gondii infection induced a statistically significant increase in the frequency of tailed nuclei, tail length, percentage of DNA in the tail, and tail moment in mice retinal cells compared to the control group (which showed some degree of DNA damage). In immunosuppressed infected group, retinal DNA damage was severing and there was significant increase in various comet assay parameters compared to both control and infected groups. After treatment with sulfadiazine and pyrimethamine, retinal DNA damage decreased and all comet assay parameters showed a statistical significant decrease compared to infected groups.
T. gondii infection can induce DNA damage in mice retinal cells.
检测小鼠感染弓形虫是否会诱导视网膜DNA损伤。
总共使用20只实验室饲养的雄性瑞士白化小鼠，并将其分为四组：对照组（未感染动物）；弓形虫感染组；免疫抑制感染组；以及用磺胺嘧啶和乙胺嘧啶治疗的感染组。感染后6周收集小鼠眼睛并获取视网膜。每个视网膜立即进行彗星试验，并计算拖尾细胞核（DNA损伤）的频率。此外，通过图像分析软件提供的各种彗星试验参数揭示视网膜DNA损伤，包括尾长、尾部DNA百分比、拖尾细胞百分比和尾矩。
获得的结果表明，与对照组（显示出一定程度的DNA损伤）相比，弓形虫感染导致小鼠视网膜细胞中拖尾细胞核的频率、尾长、尾部DNA百分比和尾矩在统计学上显著增加。在免疫抑制感染组中，视网膜DNA损伤严重，与对照组和感染组相比，各种彗星试验参数均显著增加。用磺胺嘧啶和乙胺嘧啶治疗后，视网膜DNA损伤减少，与感染组相比，所有彗星试验参数均显示出统计学上的显著下降。
弓形虫感染可诱导小鼠视网膜细胞中的DNA损伤。
