Amaral Kátia B, Silva Thiago P, Dias Felipe F, Malta Kássia K, Rosa Florence M, Costa-Neto Sócrates F, Gentile Rosana, Melo Rossana C N
Laboratory of Cellular Biology, Department of Biology, Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil.
Laboratory of Parasitology, Department of Parasitology, Microbiology and Immunology, Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil.
PLoS One. 2017 Sep 13;12(9):e0184696. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184696. eCollection 2017.
The pathology of schistosomiasis mansoni, a neglected tropical disease of great clinical and socioeconomic importance, results from the parasite eggs that become trapped in host tissues, particularly in the liver and intestines. Continuous antigenic stimulation from these eggs leads to recruitment of inflammatory cells to the sites of infection with formation of periovular granulomas. These complex structures have variable size and composition and are the most striking histopathological feature of schistosomiasis mansoni. However, evaluation of granulomas by conventional microscopy methods is time-consuming and limited, especially in large-scale studies. Here, we used high resolution Whole Slide Imaging (WSI), which allows fast scanning of entire histological slides, and multiple morphometric evaluations, to assess the granulomatous response elicited in target organs (liver, small and large intestines) of two models of schistosomiasis mansoni. One of the advantages of WSI, also termed virtual microscopy, is that it generates images that simultaneously offer high resolution and a wide field of observation. By using a model of natural (Nectomys squamipes, a wild reservoir captured from endemic areas in Brazil) and experimental (Swiss mouse) infection with Schistosoma mansoni, we provided the first detailed WSI characterization of granulomas and other pathological aspects. WSI and quantitative analyses enabled a fast and reliable assessment of the number, evolutional types, frequency and areas of granulomas and inflammatory infiltrates and revealed that target organs are differentially impacted by inflammatory responses in the natural and experimental infections. Remarkably, high-resolution analysis of individual eosinophils, key cells elicited by this helminthic infection, showed a great difference in eosinophil numbers between the two infections. Moreover, features such as the intestinal egg path and confluent granulomas were uncovered. Thus, WSI may be a suitable tool for detailed and precise histological analysis of granulomas and other pathological aspects for clinical and research studies of schistosomiasis.
曼氏血吸虫病是一种被忽视的热带疾病，具有重大的临床和社会经济意义，其病理是由困在宿主组织（特别是肝脏和肠道）中的寄生虫卵导致的。这些虫卵持续的抗原刺激会导致炎症细胞募集到感染部位，形成虫卵周围肉芽肿。这些复杂结构大小和组成各异，是曼氏血吸虫病最显著的组织病理学特征。然而，用传统显微镜方法评估肉芽肿既耗时又有限，尤其是在大规模研究中。在此，我们使用高分辨率全切片成像（WSI），它能快速扫描整个组织学切片，并进行多种形态计量评估，以评估曼氏血吸虫病两种模型的靶器官（肝脏、小肠和大肠）中引发的肉芽肿反应。WSI（也称为虚拟显微镜）的优点之一是它生成的图像能同时提供高分辨率和广阔的观察视野。通过使用曼氏血吸虫自然感染模型（Nectomys squamipes，一种从巴西流行地区捕获的野生宿主）和实验感染模型（瑞士小鼠），我们首次对肉芽肿及其他病理方面进行了详细的WSI特征描述。WSI和定量分析能够快速可靠地评估肉芽肿和炎性浸润的数量、演变类型、频率及面积，并揭示在自然感染和实验感染中靶器官受到的炎症反应影响不同。值得注意的是，对这种蠕虫感染引发的关键细胞——单个嗜酸性粒细胞的高分辨率分析显示，两种感染中嗜酸性粒细胞数量存在很大差异。此外，还发现了诸如肠内虫卵路径和融合性肉芽肿等特征。因此，对于曼氏血吸虫病的临床和研究，WSI可能是对肉芽肿及其他病理方面进行详细精确组织学分析的合适工具。
