Wana Mohammed Nasiru, Watanabe Malaika, Chiroma Samaila Musa, Unyah Ngah Zasmy, Abdullahi Sharif Alhassan, Nordin Shariza, Basir Rusliza, Mohd Moklas Mohamad Aris, Majid Roslaini Abd
Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi, Nigeria.
Heliyon. 2023 Mar 9;9(3):e14370. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14370. eCollection 2023 Mar.
() is a parasite capable of residing in the brain of their host which influences behaviour changes due to alterations in the neurotransmitters. Consequently, dopamine receptors (DRD) and indoleamine 2, 3 dioxygenase (IDO) dysregulation facilitate the progression of behaviour changes in a host as a response to infection. This study tested the effect of neurotransmitter changes as a result of infection on rats cognitive impairment. The strain of type I, II and III from Malaysia were previously identified by standard procedures. Sporulated oocysts each of type I, II and III were inoculated separately into three groups of Wistar rats (n = 9) respectively. Two separate control groups received either phosphate buffered saline (PBS) or MK-801 (dizocilpine). Behaviour changes were evaluated at nine weeks post infection in a square box, elevated plus maze and gene expression level of DRD and IDO compounds. The study revealed increased fatal feline attraction, reduced anxiety, decreased DRD and increased IDO gene expression in the infected groups and MK-801 compared to the PBS control group. In conclusion, infection alter the level of neurotransmitters in rat which cause cognitive impairment. This implies that all the strain can cause behaviour changes if human were infected.
（）是一种能够寄生于宿主大脑的寄生虫，它会因神经递质的改变而影响行为变化。因此，多巴胺受体（DRD）和吲哚胺2,3-双加氧酶（IDO）的失调会促使宿主因感染而出现行为变化。本研究测试了感染导致的神经递质变化对大鼠认知障碍的影响。先前已通过标准程序鉴定出马来西亚的I型、II型和III型菌株。将I型、II型和III型的孢子化卵囊分别接种到三组Wistar大鼠（n = 9）中。两个单独的对照组分别接受磷酸盐缓冲盐水（PBS）或MK-801（地佐环平）。在感染后九周，在方形箱、高架十字迷宫中评估行为变化，并检测DRD和IDO化合物的基因表达水平。研究发现，与PBS对照组相比，感染组和MK-801组出现了对猫致命吸引力增加、焦虑减少、DRD降低和IDO基因表达增加的情况。总之，感染会改变大鼠体内神经递质的水平，从而导致认知障碍。这意味着如果人类感染了所有这些菌株，都可能导致行为变化。
