Effects of Plasmodium berghei on thymus: High levels of apoptosis and premature egress of CD4+CD8+ thymocytes in experimentally infected mice

Acute Thymic Involution and Mechanisms for Recovery

“…TNF-α signaling pathway Pentoxifylline administration Andrade et al 2008;Francelin et al 2011;Keswani and Bhattacharyya 2013;Khanam et al 2015;Lima et al 2012 Fungus…”

“…Similar morphological changes were also observed in another study of an experimental mouse infection with P. berghei. Significant nuclear condensation with karyorrhectic alterations in the histiocytes and in many of the thymocytes were observed, which suggested premature egress of the DP lymphocytes to the periphery and an increased rate of apoptosis (Francelin et al 2011). Lima et al (2012) reported increased expression and extensive distribution of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) including MMP-2 and MMP-9 and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) including TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 in mouse thymuses during P. berghei infection.…”

Thymus Atrophy and Double-Positive Escape Are Common Features in Infectious Diseases

“…Although CD4 + CD8 + thymocytes are the main target population in infection, other subsets as DN and SP cells also depleted in infected thymus [30, 32, 42, 63, 64]. …”

“…These findings suggest that the premature scape of immature cells from the organ also contributes to the establishment of the thymic atrophy [38, 42, 84, 85]. Accordingly, it has been shown that thymocytes from T. cruzi acutely infected mice exhibited increased migratory responses to fibronectin and that abnormally high numbers of DP T cells migrate from the thymus to peripheral lymphoid organs.…”

“…Accordingly, it has been shown that thymocytes from T. cruzi acutely infected mice exhibited increased migratory responses to fibronectin and that abnormally high numbers of DP T cells migrate from the thymus to peripheral lymphoid organs. [42, 64, 83–86] (Box 2). Studies performed in experimental P. berghei infection have also demonstrated increased expression of ECM proteins, CXCL12 chemokine production, and enhanced migratory response of thymocytes from infected mice, when compared to controls [87].…”