Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
Anatomy Department, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
Int Immunopharmacol. 2023 Jul;120:110379. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2023.110379. Epub 2023 May 26.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune neurodegenerative disease. Since the modulation of the immune system by parasites has been proven, and there have been reports of a reduction in the clinical symptoms of MS in people with toxoplasmosis, this study aimed to investigate the effect of toxoplasmosis on MS in an animal model. MS model was induced by the ethidium bromide injection in the areas specified in the Rat's brain in the stereotaxic device and Toxoplasma gondii RH strain injection of the rat's peritoneal for creation of toxoplasmosis. The effect of acute and chronic toxoplasmosis on the MS model was evaluated by examining the development of clinical symptoms of MS, body weight, changes in the levels of inflammatory cytokines, inflammatory cell infiltration, cell density, and spongy tissue in the brain. The body weight in the acute toxoplasmosis with MS was the same as the MS group, and a significant decrease was observed, but no weight loss was observed in the chronic toxoplasmosis with MS. In the chronic toxoplasmosis, the progress of clinical signs such as Immobility of limbs, including tail, hands, and feet, was observed less compared to other groups. The histology results in the group of chronic toxoplasmosis showed high cell density and inhibition of spongy tissue formation, and the infiltration of inflammatory cells in this group was less. TNF-α and INF-γ decreased in MS with chronic toxoplasmosis compared to the MS group. Our findings showed that chronic toxoplasmosis with inhibition of spongy tissue formation and prevention of cell infiltration and. As a result, the reduction of inflammatory cytokines could reduce clinical symptoms in MS in the animal model.
多发性硬化症（MS）是一种自身免疫性神经退行性疾病。由于寄生虫对免疫系统的调节已得到证实，并且有报道称弓形虫感染患者的 MS 临床症状减轻，因此本研究旨在动物模型中研究弓形虫感染对 MS 的影响。通过在立体定位仪中向大鼠脑内指定区域注射溴化乙锭和向大鼠腹腔内注射弓形虫 RH 株来诱导 MS 模型。通过检查 MS 模型的临床症状发展、体重变化、炎症细胞因子水平变化、炎症细胞浸润、细胞密度和脑组织海绵化来评估急性和慢性弓形虫感染对 MS 模型的影响。急性弓形虫感染伴 MS 的体重与 MS 组相同，且观察到明显下降，但慢性弓形虫感染伴 MS 组体重未下降。在慢性弓形虫感染中，与其他组相比，观察到四肢（包括尾巴、手和脚）活动受限等临床症状的进展较少。慢性弓形虫感染组的组织学结果显示细胞密度高，海绵组织形成受到抑制，且该组的炎症细胞浸润较少。与 MS 组相比，慢性弓形虫感染伴 MS 组的 TNF-α和 INF-γ 减少。我们的研究结果表明，慢性弓形虫感染抑制了海绵组织形成、细胞浸润，并减少了炎症细胞因子的产生，从而减轻了动物模型中 MS 的临床症状。
