Passage of parasites across the blood-brain barrier

Masocha, Willias; Kristensson, Krister

doi:10.4161/viru.19178

Cited by 63 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 132 publications

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“…Other parasites involving the CP during their pathogenesis include Schistosoma species, which can move to the CP, where they shed eggs into the CNS, and Toxocara canis , which was found in the CP following oral administration of embryonated eggs (Masocha and Kristensson, 2012). …”

Section: The Choroid Plexus As Entry Site For Pathogensmentioning

confidence: 99%

The choroid plexusâ€”a multi-role player during infectious diseases of the CNS

Schwerk

Tenenbaum

Kim

et al. 2015

Front. Cell. Neurosci.

127

106

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The choroid plexus (CP) is the source of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) production and location of the blood-CSF barrier (BCSFB), which is constituted by the epithelial cells of the CP. Several infectious pathogens including viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites cross the BCSFB to enter the central nervous system (CNS), ultimately leading to inflammatory infectious diseases like meningitis and meningoencephalitis. The CP responds to this challenge by the production of chemokines and cytokines as well as alterations of the barrier function of the BCSFB. During the course of CNS infectious disease host immune cells enter the CNS, eventually contributing to the cellular damage caused by the disease. Additional complications, which are in certain cases caused by choroid plexitis, can arise due to the response of the CP to the pathogens. In this review we will give an overview on the multiple functions of the CP during brain infections highlighting the CP as a multi-role player during infectious diseases of the CNS. In this context the importance of tools for investigation of these CP functions and a possible suitability of the CP as therapeutic target will be discussed.

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Section: The Choroid Plexus As Entry Site For Pathogensmentioning

confidence: 99%

The choroid plexusâ€”a multi-role player during infectious diseases of the CNS

Schwerk

Tenenbaum

Kim

et al. 2015

Front. Cell. Neurosci.

127

106

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In both forms, the disease evolves from a first stage with peripheral tissue invasion, towards a second stage with invasion of the central nervous system. The drugs for treating sleeping sickness are subspecies specific due to their different metabolisation, and are disease stage specific depending on their ability to cross the blood–brain-barrier [2]. T.b.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Luminescent multiplex viability assay for Trypanosoma brucei gambiense

et al. 2013

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BackgroundNew compounds for the treatment of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) are urgently required. Trypanosoma brucei (T.b.) gambiense is the leading cause of HAT, yet T.b. gambiense is often not the prime target organism in drug discovery. This may be attributed to the difficulties in handling this subspecies and the lack of an efficient viability assay to monitor drug efficacy.MethodsIn this study, a T.b. gambiense strain, recently isolated in the D.R. Congo, was made bioluminescent by transfection with Renilla luciferase (RLuc) without altering its in vitro and in vivo growth characteristics. A luminescent multiplex viability assay (LMVA), based on measurement of the Renilla luciferase activity and the ATP content of the cells within the same experiment, was investigated as an alternative to the standard fluorimetric resazurin viability assay for drug sensitivity testing of T.b. gambiense.ResultsIn a 96-well format, the RLuc transfected strain showed a detection limit of 2 × 104 cells ml-1 for the Renilla luciferase measurement and 5 × 103 cells ml-1 for the ATP measurement. Both assays of the LMVA showed linearity up to 106 cells ml-1 and correlated well with the cell density during exponential growth of the long slender bloodstream forms. The LMVA was compared to the fluorimetric resazurin viability assay for drug sensitivity testing of pentamidine, eflornithine, nifurtimox and melarsoprol with both the wild type and the RLuc transfected population. For each drug, the IC50 value of the RLuc population was similar to that of the wild type when determined with either the fluorimetric resazurin method or the LMVA. For eflornithine, nifurtimox and melarsoprol we found no difference between the IC50 values in both viability assays. In contrast, the IC50 value of pentamidine was higher when determined with the fluorimetric resazurin method than in both assays of the LMVA.ConclusionsLMVA has some advantages for viability measurement of T.b. gambiense: it requires less incubation time for viability detection than the fluorimetric resazurin assay and in LMVA, two sensitive and independent viability assays are performed in the same experiment.

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“…The mechanisms by which this process occurs remain unknown, however, some intracellular bacteria, such as Listeria monocytogenes seem to cross the BBB inside leukocytes, a mechanism known as “Trojan horse” [17, 18]. Abreu-Silva et al [8] suggest that Leishmania uses this strategy to penetrate the brain parenchyma.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Main lesions in the central nervous system of dogs due to Leishmania infantum infection

et al. 2017

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BackgroundCanine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) is endemic in São Luís Maranhão/Brazil and it leads a varied clinical picture, including neurological signs.ResultsHistopathological evaluation showed that 14 dogs exhibited pathological alterations in at least one of the analyzed areas. Of these, mononuclear inflammatory reaction was the most frequent, although other lesions, such as hemorrhage, chromatolysis and gliosis were also observed. The presence of L. infantum amastigotes was confirmed in eight dogs, identified in four regions: telencephalon, hippocampus, thalamus and caudal colliculus, but only one presented neurological signs. Polymerase chain reaction results detected the DNA of the parasite in 11 samples from seven dogs. The positive areas were the telencephalon, thalamus, hippocampus, cerebellum, caudal and rostral colliculus.ConclusionThese results reveal that during canine visceral leishmaniasis, the central nervous system may display some alterations, without necessarily exhibiting clinical neurological manifestations. In addition, the L. infantum parasite has the ability to cross the blood brain barrier and penetrate the central nervous system.

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Passage of parasites across the blood-brain barrier

Cited by 63 publications

References 132 publications

The choroid plexusâ€”a multi-role player during infectious diseases of the CNS

The choroid plexusâ€”a multi-role player during infectious diseases of the CNS

Luminescent multiplex viability assay for Trypanosoma brucei gambiense

Main lesions in the central nervous system of dogs due to Leishmania infantum infection

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