Brombacher T M, De Gouveia K S, Cruywagen L, Makena N, Booley F, Tamgue O, Brombacher F
International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Cape Town component, Cape Town, South Africa.
Division of Immunology, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Health Science Faculty, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa.
Sci Rep. 2018 Feb 13;8(1):2958. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-20770-x.
Hookworm infection is endemic in developing countries, leading to poor cognitive function-among other disruptions. In this study, the effects of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis infection (a murine model of Necator Americanus) on cognitive function were investigated. Though impaired cognition has been extensively reported, the exact domain of cognition affected is still unknown, hence requiring investigation. The objective of this study was to identify possible cognitive changes during Nippostrongylus brasiliensis infection in mice, using the Morris water maze. Here, we show for the first time that mice infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis were able to learn the Morris water maze task, but demonstrated impaired reference memory. Anxiety measured by thigmotaxis in the maze, did not play a role for the observed cognitive impairment. Of further interest, an increase in the number of hippocampal macrophages and microglia with training and/or infection suggested a significant role of these cell types during spatial learning. Together, these experimental mouse studies suggest that helminth infections do have an impact on cognition. Further experimental animal studies on cognition and infection might open new approaches for a better understanding and impact of pathogen infections.
钩虫感染在发展中国家呈地方性流行，会导致认知功能低下以及其他紊乱。在本研究中，调查了巴西日圆线虫感染（美洲板口线虫的一种小鼠模型）对认知功能的影响。尽管认知受损已有广泛报道，但受影响的具体认知领域仍不清楚，因此需要进行调查。本研究的目的是利用莫里斯水迷宫确定小鼠感染巴西日圆线虫期间可能出现的认知变化。在此，我们首次表明，感染巴西日圆线虫的小鼠能够学会莫里斯水迷宫任务，但表现出参考记忆受损。通过迷宫趋触性测量的焦虑对观察到的认知障碍没有影响。更有趣的是，随着训练和/或感染，海马巨噬细胞和小胶质细胞数量增加，表明这些细胞类型在空间学习过程中发挥了重要作用。总之，这些实验小鼠研究表明，蠕虫感染确实会对认知产生影响。进一步关于认知与感染的实验动物研究可能会为更好地理解病原体感染及其影响开辟新途径。
