Exp Parasitol. 2013 Nov 6. pii: S0014-4894(13)00278-6. doi: 10.1016/j.exppara.2013.10.013. [Epub ahead of print]

Morphometric changes in C57BL/6 mice retina infected by Toxoplasma gondii ME 49 strain

Rocha AC, Calabrese KD, Tedesco RC, Campos WR, Neto MH, Vasconcelos AC, Oréfice F.

Source

Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais;Hospital São Geraldo - Hospital das Clínicas da UFMG, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil.

Abstract

This study evaluated the morphometric implications in C57BL/6 mouse retina infected by Toxoplasma gondii, ME 49 strain. Twenty C57BL/6 female mice were divided into group 1 (n=8, intraperitoneally infected with 30 cysts of T. gondii ME 49 strain) and group 2 (n=12 non-infected controls). The eyes were enucleated on the 60^th day after infection, fixed and processed for light microscopy. Changes in retinal thickness and in the perimeter/area ratio (P/A) of the retinal layers were analyzed by digital morphometry. We considered that P/A was the measurement of retinal architecture distortion induced by toxoplasmosis. This study considered the ganglion cells and nerve fiber layers as a monolayer, thus six layers of retina were evaluated: photoreceptors (PRL), outer nuclear (ONL), outer plexiform (OPL), inner nuclear (INL), inner plexiform (IPL) and ganglion cells/nerve fiber monolayer (GNL). Histological analysis of infected mouse retina showed inflammatory infiltrate, necrosis, glial reaction and distortion of the retina architecture. It also presented increased thickness (167.8 ± 24.9 μm versus 121.1 ± 15.4 μm, in controls) and increased retinal thickness within the retinitis foci (187.7 ± 16.6 μm versus 147.9 ± 12.2 μm out of the retinitis foci). A statistically significant difference in P/A was observed between infected and uninfected mouse retinas. The same was observed in PRL, OPL, INL and GNL. Retinal morphometry may be used to demonstrate differences between infected and uninfected mouse retinas.
Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc.

KEYWORDS:

Eye, Mice, Morphometry, Ocular toxoplasmosis

PMID:

24211418

[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]