Exp Parasitol. 2014 Jun 11. pii: S0014-4894(14)00144-1. doi: 10.1016/j.exppara.2014.06.006. [Epub ahead of print]

Müller cell activation and photoreceptor depletion in a mice model of congenital ocular toxoplasmosis

Lahmar I¹, Pfaff AW², Marcellin L³, Sauer A², Moussa A⁴, Babba H⁵, Candolfi E².

 

Müller glial cells are critically involved in retinal inflammatory processes. Here, we investigate the activation of Müller cells in a model of congenital ocular toxoplasmosis (OT). Four weeks after infection, retinal sections were studied immunohistochemically using the markers glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin. Müller cells showed strong up-regulation of both markers, as well as a deteriorated morphology in all infected retinas. Moreover, cell density and color intensity of the outer nuclear layer (ONL) of photoreceptors were decreased. Our results indicate, for the first time, that the severe retinal damage and loss of vision observed in human OT is not directly caused by infection but rather mediated by infection induced reactive gliosis.
Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

KEYWORDS:

GFAP; Müller cells; Photoreceptors; Toxoplasma gondii; Vimentin

PMID:

24929147

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