Intravital imaging of host‐parasite interactions in organs of the thoracic and abdominopelvic cavities

Abstract

Infections with protozoan and helminthic parasites affect multiple organs in the mammalian host. Imaging pathogens in their natural environment takes a more holistic view on biomedical aspects of parasitic infections. Here, we focus on selected organs of the thoracic and abdominopelvic cavities most commonly affected by parasites. Parasitic infections of these organs are often associated with severe medical complications or have health implications beyond the infected individual. Intravital imaging has provided a more dynamic picture of the host-parasite interplay and contributed not only to our understanding of the various disease pathologies, but has also provided fundamental insight into the biology of the parasites. K E Y W O R D S diseases, imaging, infection, intravital, microscopy, parasitology 1 | INTRODUCTION Most parasitic infections in mammals involve organs of the thoracic, abdominal and pelvic cavities, and may cause severe complications as a result of damage to these organs. Organs in the thoracic cavity include the heart, the lungs, the thymus, the thyroid and parathyroid.The heart is an important target of Trypanosoma cruzi; and the lungs, are key targets of multiple parasites causing a broad spectrum of pathology ranging from focal lesions to diffuse lung damage. In the abdominal cavity, organs include the stomach, the intestine, the liver, the gallbladder, the pancreas, the spleen, the kidneys, the adrenal glands and regional lymph nodes. In the pelvic cavity, the reproductive organs and the urinary bladder are harboured. All the above organs can be compromised by vector-borne and soil/water/food-borne parasites alike. Intravital microscopy (IVM) allows studying cellular and sub-cellular events within living animals, including host-pathogen interactions. In this review, we focus on key IVM-based findings on parasite biology in different organs of the thoracic and abdominopelvic cavities. Importantly, some of these organs pose specific challenges for visualisation. Here, we discuss the advances on surgical procedures, imaging platforms and image processing tools that have made visualisation of parasites within these organs possible. | ORGANS IN THE THORACIC CAVITYThe organs in the thoracic cavity most frequently affected by parasites are the lungs and heart (Figure 1a). The heart as the central organ of the circulatory system carries out vital functions by distributing blood, oxygen and nutrients to tissues and removing metabolic waste

Organotypic endothelial adhesion molecules are key for Trypanosoma brucei tropism and virulence

“…For intravital imaging, surgeries were separately performed in the brain; the lungs and heart; the liver; the pancreas, spleen and kidney; the adipose tissues and lymph nodes, as described in De Niz et al. (2019a , 2019b , 2019c , 2020 ). Briefly, mice were anaesthetized with a mixture of ketamine (120 mg/kg) and xylazine (16 mg/kg) injected intraperitonially.…”

Surgical and intravital microscopy protocol to image Trypanosoma brucei–host interactions in live rodent models

“… Note: Windows can be chronic or terminal. We have recently published detailed methods and uses of intravital microscopy and existing surgical methods in the context of parasitology, as a mini-series collection (( De Niz et al., 2019b ; 2019c ; 2019a , 2020 ). In this work, we will focus on the description of terminal windows only.…”

Immunopathology and parasite sequestration cause severe cerebral trypanosomiasis in animals

“…For intravital microscopy, surgeries were separately performed by groups of organs, as previously described for the brain (De Niz et al, 2019a), the lungs and heart, the liver, pancreas, spleen and kidneys (De Niz et al, 2020), and the adipose tissues (De Niz et al, 2019b). In summary, mice were anaesthetized prior to surgery with a mixture of ketamine (120 mg/kg) and xylazine (16 mg/kg), by intraperitoneal injection.…”